Artist Statement

My task as a painter is to be a patient observer, collector, and filter of visual information. It is my job to look and describe this sensation to others interested in a conversation about our senses. This vocation is based on history and in the traditions of the painted language. I am constantly in dialogue with painters, friends and strangers; past and present; dead and alive. The dialogue takes place in many different languages and modes of comprehension with varying degrees of fluency. Once, reading a set of literary imperatives by Mark Twain, I was struck by his insistence that an author must say what he is proposing to say, not merely come near it. I have always kept this in mind since then, finding not only comfort, but also a sense of responsibility. The medium of paint requires me to work within the limitations, adjust my rhythm and pace the decision making process. Unlike many contemporary forms of communication this is not an inconvenience but rather a necessary element in the quest for clarity.

Timothy Callaghan