ARTIST'S STATEMENT
The following artistic statement should help you understand my artistic philosophy and some of the ongoing themes of my work.
I am an outsider. As a gay man, I am part of the larger culture but also separate from it. I am an observer. I am naturally introspective. I am a "baby-boomer." My work concerns itself with some of societal changes that have happened in my life since the fifties and sixties
When start on a project, whether a drawing, or painting, I generally begin with an underlying image or concept in mind. For the last two or three years, I have been thinking about the choices that we make over our life time. I have several works that incorporate pathways, a “yellow brick road” which I believe implies a search for meaning and happiness.
I have also been interested in the symbolism of houses, such as the ones that are used in the game of Monopoly and other board games. They are meant to point out differences in wealth that can be achieved or lost on one’s passage through life. In Psychoanalysis, a house also symbolizes the self. I like to show people in transparent houses where they are the exposed in the midst of their everyday lives. I also mean to imply someone is about to leave the security of the home and begin a search for new directions.
My goal is to create works of art that have an emotionally powerful impact. I have been strongly influenced by the “Outsider Art” movement and believe in creating a bridge between what is suggested by the work and the individual perceptions of the viewers who interpret the work. In other words, an emotional rather than intellectual connection must be made with some aspect of the life of the observer or the work is merely an illustration of academic theory.
Joseph Lawrence