Brian Truesdale first became aware of abstract art as a teenager. Going through books in his high school art classes, the images he saw of Abstract Expressionism were bold and frightening. The sources of passions and nightmares. He was mesmerized, and that fascination led him to take an open studio abstract painting class at a crucial point in his adult life when he sought to channel his emotions and embrace his identity.
Brian spent several years painting and drawing obsessively, soaking up art books and visiting museums. He’d wander through the gallery spaces, staring deep into the pieces to decipher their secrets until he had to force himself to leave in a daze of wonder and intimidation.
Brian’s education has been informal and largely a process of self-searching, probing his mind and feelings. He’s reached a point of confidence in his work where he feels that it’s his own, though the search has only begun. He’s been fortunate enough to have five solo exhibitions in the past five years, and to have his work featured in several group and juried exhibitions throughout the country. Brian is an emerging artist ready to engage with the larger artistic world.
Artist Statement
The blank surface is a source of fear and transcendence. My art is a continuous search to find the key to the mystery of lines, color, and texture built up in layers of passion, humor, anger, and solace. I seek to find and develop the focal point, like a beacon in the chaotic noise of life. My process requires periods of study and reflection alternating with periods of intense application. I believe in balancing outbursts of spontaneity, which bring a piece alive, with deliberate refinements that bring focus and clarity. I may paint or draw a single line or mark repeatedly, scraping away the edges with my finger, repeating the obliteration and restoration until what I see has the right intensity and rhythm. It’s what the abstract artist sees in these layers that defines their unique language.
My art has a conscious process, but it’s not just an intellectual exercise. It’s about the feeling or emotional response you get from viewing the work. The great rewards of art are the sharing of the human spirit and the experience of sensation and discovery. So much in this life is so distant and disconnected that if a piece is compelling, if it can elicit a visceral response in a viewer, then it has succeeded.
