Disappearing World
At its core Disappearing World is about decomposition. These paintings represent a collapse of the rural culture I was born into. Much like the barns I choose to paint, the traditional values of integrity, fairness, and duty slowly erode and dissolve into the surrounding landscape. We destroy nature and over time it fights back. This backlash will turn barns into coffins, interned in a wet and muddy world that pushes against its walls. Portraits and figures are also impacted by time and experience. We are at once both predator and victim, scored and marked by the dual roles we play. Using symmetry and a target-like composition I give the work a sense of intentionality. I try to make paintings that are clear. They declare a reality that we are spiritually, emotionally, and intellectually confused. They are judgmental. They may shout at the neighbors, but try to do so quietly. The neutral palette mixed with limited metallic paints restrains the emotional temperature. Like all aspects of life, abstraction, representation, and surface collide to form the ordered chaos I live in.
Phil Parsons