Beauty and Concern

By: Chase Whitman | October 26, 2009 | Art

Women often occupy the central focus of your pieces. What are you trying to express through the use of these characters?
Almost always they are self-referential. The women represent me and my own fears and insecurities, etc.

Where do you find inspiration in L.A.?
I go to art shows, see movies at the Vista Theater, the Arclight and Hollywood Forever Cemetery, or I visit architecturally interesting places like Barnsdall Park or the Getty Center.

Describe your art community in L.A.
It’s a small community of painters. Most of us hover around the same local galleries or see each other in drawing or painting workshops.

What are your favorite galleries to see shows?
Regen Projects, Blum & Poe, Corey Helford, Merry Karnowsky, among others.

Let’s talk about drawing. What do you think its value is in creating a piece? How different from painting is it for you?
Drawing is perhaps the most important step when creating. After the drawing is finished, and I begin painting, the drawing becomes my guide — like a blueprint. Most of my drawings remain crude line scribbles and function only to serve my painting process.

What’s your biggest pet peeve about art?
The artist ego!

Which artist or artists, going back through art history, would you like to apprentice for or work with or show with — or just watch them paint?
I think Caravaggio, Vermeer, Sargent are among some my favorite painters. Any interaction with those master painters would be of great benefit.

It seems like the darker quality of your early works have become less overt in your newer pieces. Is this a correct assessment? What does this mean to you?
I haven’t abandoned the dark or macabre themes of my early work; I’ve just placed them on hold. I paint in a mood that I feel is appropriate for each individual series of work.

Have you ever shoplifted art supplies?
No, never. But I have bought paintbrushes from a questionable man in a long trench coat.

Take me through the process of creating a piece from start to finish.
I work in two parts: The first part is photography. I’ll start to plan a photo shoot as I gather inspirational clippings, collect fabrics, make drawings and find models. After the photo shoot is finished, I manipulate the photography digitally, making dozens of compositions to choose from.

The second part is painting. Using the photography as reference, I draw and then paint the image I’ve chosen. I usually do not deviate from my photo reference after it’s been manipulated.

Which do you like/hate painting more: hands or feet?
Hands!

You seem to work consistently with certain models. Tell me a little about this.
They are mostly people I am close to and feel comfortable working with. My friends and family are happy to oblige me.

Do you ever model for yourself?
Yes, sometimes. I’ve done several self-portraits, but it’s difficult to be photographer and model at the same time.

What’s the weirdest thing that has ever happened to you at an art show?
Someone asked for my autograph. I blushed and then asked for a pen.

If not a painter, what could you see yourself doing?
Fashion designer or photographer or possibly graphic designer.

Here are a few observations about your work. Feel free to comment, correct or agree with any that jump out at you:

The negative space in your work is so beautiful. Plain white walls, wooden floors, etc., have so much work in them.
I feel that the open spaces play an equally important role in my pieces. Just like my subjects/models, the negative space between must have shape, texture and interest.

The multiple depictions of the subjects in your pieces are almost like psychological cubism; displaying different facets, moods or perceptions of each subject.
It’s similar to that, yes, but it would be more accurate to describe it as the psychological translated into physical. It might seem simplistic, but it is the way I choose to illustrate an internal world.

Sometimes your pieces are like maps depicting the way light falls across interiors. They deal a lot with the balance of light and black.
I try to utilize all my tricks in order to achieve movement in my compositions. In some cases, I use sunlight to create dynamic movement through a piece.

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