D.Wright, Dialogs
In his recent series, “Dialogs,” visual artist Donald Bruce Wright creates an emotional and intellectual landscape featuring the human face and body in provocative expressions and poses. Don’s large canvasses are dream-like and compelling, with a rhythm that comes from repeated images of figures that seem to move on their own. In order to create one painting, Don takes hundreds of photographs, scrutinizing each one for light, expression and other, less tangible qualities.
Though Don is an accomplished painter, he paid little attention to art until he was forty. With a career in business that ranged from public accounting to executive recruiting, Don was successful, but felt something was missing from his life. Making money for corporations was a hollow pursuit, and even though he spent time with non-profits, Don experienced a serious emotional crisis that moved him in the direction of becoming an artist. “My psyche was trying to tell me to look out for myself. I didn’t want to die before I really knew who I was.” Don began to take art classes, spending more time drawing and painting. Eventually, he left his business career and entered the M.F.A. program at San Jose State University.
“I just wanted to draw. Well – my goal was to be able to make greeting cards for friends and family.” When he realized he could draw well, he set the bar higher – much higher. With each class, he achieved more, gaining skills and confidence. “There’s never been any grand plan,” he says of the path that brought him to art. “It’s been one step at a time, giving myself permission to try new things. For so long I didn’t think this was a legitimate thing to do.” Don still struggles with the feeling that making art is not what he should be doing. He credits his wife, Leslie, for much of his success. “She’s been so supportive. It took me awhile to believe it was true” – Leslie’s belief in him has sustained him and given him new confidence.
Building on that idea, Don stresses that artists must surround themselves with people who are supportive and positive. “Stay away from naysayers. Making art is difficult enough to do. You need as much encouragement as possible.” The most important person in an artist’s support group is his or her spouse, then family, friends and colleagues.
Don’s mother is an important influence on him as an artist. She is a creative woman who wanted to go to art school, but whose father denied her the opportunity, which Don didn’t know until a few years ago when he was cleaning out his mother’s house. “She was the classic ‘blocked artist.’ In her forties, she took some painting classes, but didn’t stick with it.” She had great taste in color and style, which showed itself in her clothes and skill in decorating the home. His aunt was a painter, and she and her husband were role models for the way Don wanted to live his life: an intelligent, childless couple who pursued their interests.
Don’s current series, “Dialogs,” started with Don taking pictures of one of his studio mates. From these photos, there were two in which it seemed that he was talking to himself. “That’s where the idea came from. But even before that, I enjoyed taking a lot of pictures of the same person. I try to find the expression that is enigmatic, that has a complex array of emotions that allow the viewer to engage with the painting. I put the people into a surreal setting, but there is a narrative going on – it tells a story. I don’t like painting pictures that don’t tell a story.” Conflicting voices, impulses, values – these are actually self-portraits. His paintings depict what goes on in his head all the time. Once he has a story built from the multiple images, he adds classic and modern iconography that supports the narrative.
“For figures to look like they are in the same spatial plane, they have to be lit the same, and they have to have the same proportions. These are all random shots. I go through them all, finding the ones that work together.” Don sometimes takes pictures of people anonymously, especially those who are particularly expressive. “I never know when I’ve got something. Most of my pictures I can’t use.” Don does not pose people, but sometimes they know he’s photographing them. A painting usually takes months to complete.
Don is a restless experimenter, constantly looking for ways to improve his work. “I’m never satisfied. My favorite painting is always the one I’m working on.” He’s started over several times in his life, and is always hungry for new adventure. However, Don reigns in his impulses, preferring to go deeply into a subject. “There’s the risk of becoming a dilettante. My curiosity is always pulling at me.” The Dialogs series in now in its eighth and ninth paintings, and Don has sold most of the others to collectors. Dialogs still has his attention, and there’s more to learn from this particular direction.
“The greatest reward of being an artist is that it has awakened my appreciation of the world around me,” Don says. The sky fascinates him, with its ever-changing light, clouds, and storms. “The greatest show on earth is the sky, and it’s every day, and it’s free!”
Donald Bruce Wright’s painting "Oneirodynia" will be on exhibit at the Silicon Valley Open Studio Invitational Exhibition – 2009. The show runs Sept 4 - 28th at The Pacific Art League, 668 Ramona Street, Palo Alto, CA 94301. "Dialog #5" will be on display at the California State Fair, and has won an Award of Merit prize. The California State Fair starts August 21. Don is also a member of the Silicon Valley Artists Collaborative.
For more information, please visit Don's website: www.donaldbrucewright.com.
Comments