Jeff Conefry
In my current work, I focus on the materiality and process of
painting, using abstraction as embodied symbols to speak to the
wholeness of the medium. The work is not meant to be conclusive
but, rather, provisionally aphoristic, leading to more in-depth
explorations. Each piece is materially specific and includes a
limited set of formal variables. Physical exploitation makes the
work view-specific—a viewer’s presence is required for it to be
understood—creating a distinction between paint and picture.
As with materiality, process is fundamental. My approach relies
on experiments with displaced action, where a commonly
understood action is spatially and temporarily contradicted. For
example, a brushstroke created spontaneously in one place at
one time is physically placed in a new context, detached from
its original situation. This comparative contradiction helps me
evaluate varied approaches to my object making, understanding
all too well the history that all painting is forced to bear.