Artist statement: Search series (ongoing)
Type in a word on your computer and the internet gives you an multitude of choices. Working in the design field offered many chances to see this in action. A dizzing display of images were the result when I chose a catagory, typed in the word and suddenly my computer screen became filled by a large number of images. This was the idea behind my “search series.”
I decided to do my first seies on the suburbs. It’s what I new the best. I have been living in the “burbs” for over twenty years; watched my children grow and experiece life there. Observed life from my windows, spotted ideas as I drove my car and just walking around.
1. Artist statement:
Suburb series (part of Search series)
Growing up in the city, urban life was a continuous force, pushing its inhabitants towards their destinations quickly and efficiently. Concrete, brick, and blacktop surrounds daily life. Patches of green were in isolated gardens and small parks. Commercial signs, billboards and cars everywhere.
The suburbs offers a respiteful contrast; a tranquil green environment of well manicured lawns, mirror balls on pedestals, individual playgrounds at every house and open garages showing a variety of engines with the sole purpose of keeping the lawns pristine. Sprinklers watering, four cars parked in driveways, over-landscaped gardens, otherwise, an unending supply of visuals to paint.
Raised with rowhomes in every inescapable direction, the suburbs was like another country. An alien environment of visuals that inspired me and bombared my senses to create the paintings for “Suburbs.”
2. Artist statement:
Shoe series (part of Search series)
A Florida vacation inspired this series based on the intoxicating effect that shopping for shoes has on women. Watching ladies enter the store and become unconsciously transformed into caressing and mesmerizing individuals intrigued me into drawing a series of sketches. The drawings turned into this concept; the interaction of people, the transforming behavior that they showed while shopping and the psychology used in the display and placement of shoes in the store’s design.
In life, shoes are used as protection. It is the last piece of clothing we put on before before enter the world. They are not usually given certain consideration such as; shoes are the reason we can walk on differnt surfaces in extreme heat and cold, stay dry on a rainy day or not burn our feet on asphalt while crossing a street. Our daily life becomes a rational, normal occurance because of them. We take these coverings defenses for granted. However, for women, the purchase of shoes becomes a fix for a habit.
When entering the store, the smell of shoe leather garners your attention, greets and brings you into this boutique experience. My painting; Observer is the beginning of the shoe shopping experience. It’s when you first enter the store only knowing that you need a pair of brown shoes to go with the dress you just purchased. Once in the store the chore turns into play. The overwhelming number of options quickly leads to numerous reactions. Uncertainty turns into triumph, as the shoe you have been looking for suddenly appears. Many Boxes are shoe boxes scattered over the floor while women sit admiring the goods they’ve found. The boxes are stacked—achievement and satisfaction. Box opening could be Christmas morning. A multitude of presents waiting to be accessed. In The Mirror, shows the ritual of “viewing” the presents opened.
Shoes went from being a necessity to a fashion statement over time. The experience of shopping for shoes is not a solitary endevor. Friends shop together, exchanging opinions, find treasures among the racks and shelves and give advice on matching color and texture. In my paintings I tried to convey these behaviors through visual statements about that experience.
Artist statement: Segment series (ongoing)
When my computer is in the screen saver mode, a variety of images from my family ventures are constantly changing on the screen. However, when I move my computer mouse to get to the desktop, for a split second, the screen segments between the one image that was on the screen to the image that was going to be next. A random cubistic hodgepodge of shapes merge together, forming an image made of haphazzard parts of the two images in transisition. These pictures, for that brief moment create what I am influenced by and trying to copy. Random segements create whole picture. A moment that will never happen the same way again but that still have an order in it’s disorder.
2. Wishes
Michael Trinsey 