Corinne Costello

Artist Statement

Finding inspiration in the mythological stories of metamorphosis my work traverses between figuration and abstraction. The painting constantly changes between form and formless, between the familiar and unfamiliar. I strive for a painting that has a sense of mysterious movement, organically hovering and dissolving over the surface of the canvas.

My attraction to oil painting lies in the nature of the paint itself. The addition of oil enhances the unique properties of each paint pigment creating rich contrasts and optical complexity. The application of alternating layers of opaque and transparent paint creates work constantly fluctuating between form and formless, between static and ephemeral and the illusion of depth and that of flatness.

The direct touch of the brush onto the linen places the process of painting directly into the present. Rather than an abstract gesture or spontaneous self-expression my work is a slow poetic construction. The painting is reformed many times to reach its contemporary conclusion. The process is attentive and responsive to weakness, fragility, absences and flaws of the artist and the painting. A resolution is slowly and meticulously found as the work takes on its own character leaving only a trace of the artist in the object.

*Heidigger argues that in great art the artist remains inconsequential compared to the work, almost destroying himself in the creative process for the work to emerge. Just as we exist physically our spiritual lives are embodied in that sensual form which is transmitted via touch to the painting.

* Martin Heidegger “The Origin of the Work of Art”, Poetry, Language, Thought, Harper and Row 1975