Members Gallery

January 4-31, 2012
Marian Dioguardi: The Colors of LIghtness and Being

Artist Statement:

My paintings of simple objects and lives celebrate comfort. I paint cups, laundry lines, unassuming homes and places. Whether I paint to monumental scale or intimate size, the bold and iconic presentation of my subjects belies their unassuming origins from back yards and thrift shops, kitchens and sheds. They are objects that nobly, yet unobtrusively, serve us during our life-time.

I paint with bold, intensified colors - colors that I feel as much as see. Using oil paint, pallet knife and panel I paint directly, clearly and decisively. The pallet knife is a comfortable tool in my hand, which was trained as a child to frost the cakes my mother made for our parties. Painting, for me, is still an expression of celebration. Using the paints original texture and mixing colors which I believe to be true, I carve and construct the three dimensional subjects into compelling two-dimensional images.

On first glance, my paintings appear simple, alive, and cartoon colorful. They are in fact developed through extensive preliminary thumbnail sketches, drawings, studies and observations. The process between the initial flash that instigates me to paint and the final graphic expression of that essential moment is a lengthy and thoughtful one.

Each painting is completed only after the physical presence of the subject has been removed. In those final moments, I paint the memory of its being.