Laurence Young
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About the artist
"Grounded in representation and then abstracted through process," is how Laurence Young would describe his current work. All his canvases start out with a multi-colored under-painting creating the ground work for what is to follow. Applied next is a charcoal line drawing created from a life source. "The drawing," Young explains, "sometimes acts as an outline and, other times, it’s barely noticeable leaving only hints of ghost marks that were eliminated.”
His oils are mixed with a cold wax medium giving the application of paint a thick, flat, and opaque colored surface. His painted shapes sometimes follow the contours of the line work but, mostly, they allude to form and space. At times, these elements are incongruous with one another creating deliberate tension. Other times, they play together in harmony.
"Adding yet another layer of complexity," he explains, "I use the under-painting as part of the process which creates the unexpected. The exposing of the under surface is part of the exploration and discovery in my work.” What seems to be arbitrary suddenly make sense in the overall expression of his paintings. He explains that it is the back and forth of scraping down and building up the top surfaces that keeps his work in constant flux and challenges his artistry. "The choices I make while painting are not always conscious ones but are intuitive or can even be counter intuitive. I go wherever the process leads me."