Jacklyn Laflamme 2014
ARTIST STATEMENT
My paintings make their mark on many levels. At the outset I engage with the structure of the works, creating canvases vibrant with kaleidoscopic, rhythmically pulsating color and constant movement, shimmering with wit and a sophisticated cosmopolitan awareness. This all in the context of a subject matter that seems at first glance to be almost adult-sophisticated anime in style.
My work is populated with the cultural icons of our time in dialog with a wide range of art and style influences of the last half-century: atomic, surrealism, pop and psychedelia to name a few. I take the popular icons of modern life and re-purpose them as symbols to chart the emotional challenges, conundrums, reversals and achievements as they reflect the interiority of modern woman’s life-experience. This I believe places my work firmly within a new symbolist movement.
Art that we can live with is invariably that which involves us in a conversation with ourselves about how we see our world and interact with everyday life. Because there is a strong narrative element in the paintings my collector’s talk about “taking a vacation” within a picture or “going to the movies” with a work. They also talk about returning from an immersion in the volcanic eruptions of color swept along by the movement and intrigue of the story with a feeling of being enriched and re-charged.
To successful women in business, the arts and entertainment my work is almost immediately an open book of irony, wit, agony, yearning and truth. They recognize and deconstruct the powerful symbolism represented by the context of the cultural icons within my canvases. They “get” the issues and the commentary that runs through my energizing subjects and stories.
The images depicted in my canvases, while readily accessible to the worldly and sophisticated woman, also offer empowering interpretive insights to the man fascinated by the feminine mystique. Because of this my pictures have a reputation for electrifying theirs owners with meaningful conversation.
In fact, the accessibility of this wordless dialog between artist and participant about life and relationships, has led collectors to encourage some of my more playful work in founding collections for the younger generations.
Structure is the primary force in my body of work, manifesting itself in the line, shape, balance and movement of the narrative. Experimentation with the interaction of hues and the juxtaposition of tints and shades is also central to my message. Deeply influenced by the discoveries of Joseph Albers I work my palette to the far boundaries of the spectrum, manipulating the paint to form layers of color to the point were my subjects literally glow; and as each year passes I feel myself getting closer and closer to creating hues that may never have been seen before.
Along with the professional concern for form and color rides my obsession with minute detail throughout the swirl of storylines that drive my acrylic on canvas paintings: the result I believe is constant intrigue and work that offers endless interpretive possibilities for art you can live with and love.