Jaqueline Cedar
My paintings depict life-size figures interacting amidst abstract
fields of shape and color. Unsure of their surroundings, these
figures make rote attempts to interact with one another both
physically and psychologically as their gestures are echoed and
amplified by their environment. They have strong inclinations
toward action, yet limited mobility. They find themselves absorbed
by their own thoughts and yet compelled to engage with their
surroundings. They are filled with a sense of impending doom,
and still uncertain of their purpose. As these figures acknowledge
the absurdity of their circumstances, they respond distinctly with
behaviors that reflect their will and needs.
The paintings address such issues as self-awareness, control,
and immobility, staging a potential but arrested movement toward
knowledge or engagement. By arranging figures as armatures for
hanging line and color, my paintings construct scenarios in which
subjects behave both as backdrops and participants, observers
and actors. Adjacent structures of shape and value at once form
and collapse, advancing an overall sensation of motion, depth,
and atmosphere.