Phil Amrhein
PHILLIP AMRHEIN
When painting, I am always trying to do something that is unique and free. I want my paintings to create their own reality, not a secondary representational one. My goal is to make paintings that engage the viewer visually without depicting anything. I often use repetitive lines and patterns to create complex lattice like fields that interact with shapes or structures defined by their own framework of lines. The works are documents of process in the way lines build and form into larger groupings or configurations. I want these line-structured shapes to have an aesthetic presence as well as qualities that evoke association and reference. From the start, there is no clear vision of where the work is going, but at some point during the process, I sense a direction or I see something that provides me with a kind of focus.
In this series of black paintings, I usually start with a nondescript black shape or shapes that transition into a mesh of lines. The lines are structured in a framework that form a border, or edging, to define the black field. When painting, I’m trying to work out a relationship between line, shape, and space. I’m attempting to cause a configuration that is empty of images, but still visually engaging. I am drawn to the stark emptiness of the black; no distractions, a place to rest and contemplate. But at the same time, the line work surrounding the black field forms a loose frame, and can be seen as a window, portal, or passageway that pulls you into some kind of imaginary space. Like closing your eyes – not so as not to see, but to see things not present in the real world. These paintings invite the viewer to gaze….
Read David Roth's review of "Phil Amrhein @ Axis Gallery" at SquareCylinder.com