Artist Statement

A moment of complete happiness never occurs in the creation of a work of art. The promise of it is felt in the act of creation but disappears towards the completion of the work. For it is then that the painter realizes that it is only a picture he is painting. Until then he had almost dared to hope that the picture might spring to life. It is this great insufficiency that drives him on. Thus the process of creation becomes necessary to the painter perhaps more than it is in the picture.

-Lucian Freud

My work is a result of an impulse toward self-expression.  I chose to become a painter because I enjoy making images and cultivated an early interest in the visual arts.  Also, the basic activity of applying paint onto a two-dimensional surface has always given me pleasure.

Though I sometimes choose to work within the context of a theme, I work on one picture at a time and try not to approach my paintings with an intended image in mind.  I liken each picture to an independent organism in which I merely assist in its growth. Rather than impose my own sensibilities, I try to allow each piece to come into being naturally.

During this process, many “mistakes” may happen though I consider them integral to the completed picture since they are reflective of our own life process. For example, a protrusion on the surface of a painting may be compared to a scar on the flesh, signifying not only a prior wound but also its unseen significance, whatever it may be.  Similarly, my work is as much about the process of creating as it is about the finished piece itself, the two being inseparable.

One of the most difficult things, especially for an abstract painter, is deciding when a work is finished.  As I’ve learned from the experience of many ruined canvases, over working a painting can quickly lead to disaster.  At the same time, the initial prettiness that arises through little effort is usually void of substance.

The best indicator of a completed picture is when it fails to inspire me - when the canvas ceases to compel my attention. When this happens, the piece becomes just another material object: tangible though inanimate, yet with a density all its own.

-Albert Chi Hwang