Ashley Sullivan

When creating a painting – a place – I often work from reference photos. Beginning with an organized structure that I can then disregard at will. I gravitate to architectural grids and repetition of shapes and will seek these out in city streets and natural environments alike.

My landscapes, cities, and abstracts are all built with flat planes of color. Layered and scattered on the canvas surface, giving enough information to tell the story but becoming looser at the edges. At times a canvas pulls more detail and information as I layer more and more palette knife strokes and thinned washes, becoming fully representational. Other canvases remain more mysterious and veer fully into abstract territory. I perch on the edge between the two.

I desire an immediate feeling to my work, energetic and unfocused and yet clear. An image that has only just assembled itself as your eyes fall upon it. Catching a glimpse from a moving car.  Capturing a moment that will never be just the same again (if it ever was). Pinning down a fleeting moment, place, or memory.

Working in acrylic paint best allows this transference of energy and life and buzz to the canvas. I can work rapidly, build up layers, and maintain spontaneity. Sections of raw primed canvas peek through – flickering, sparkling, urgent.