Brad Cooper Gallery

ARTIST STATEMENT

YVONNE PETKUS
The Drama And The Gesture

Paintings and Studies from the Studio Research and Study of 17^th Century Painting in Rome, Italy, June 2002

Influence is about residues. About stains.

From the physical, the experienced, the philosophical and the perceived.

It is through painting that I attempt to understand, question and reflect upon ideas, experiences and influences. Much as other scholars use words and other precise forms appropriate to their field, I use the paradigm of my discipline, the act of painting, to conduct research and to give voice to its discoveries. With this in mind, it was essential for me to paint while in Rome in order to fully think through and process appropriately what I would be seeing. Experiences both planned and unexpected have influenced my studio work and continue to provide rich nourishment for this development.

The approach I took was to see as many paintings from the Baroque period as possible, making connections and noting which pieces seemed to ask for further study. The key element to the success of this trip was that I had the time to go back and focus on these particular pieces by intensely looking and by doing drawings, sketches, and small paintings. In fully experiencing these incredible works of art, I actually saw them differently. The sheer volume of rich resources affected my perception in ways that are difficult to describe, though evident in my recent work.

While focusing on the work of Caravaggio as well as Orazio Gentileschi and Artemisia Gentileschi, I also found inspiration in the paintings of the Nazionale D'Arte Moderna, in the figurative sculptures all over Rome, and, of course, in the masterpiece of the Sistine Chapel. Experiencing such powerful and vital work, in the flesh and in the historical and cultural context for which it was created, has opened up a vein in my work that I am just beginning to understand.

Yvonne Petkus