Stefano Giordano

ARTIST STATEMENT

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Through an investigation into the language of painting, my works seek to imitate life, not as images, but as objects presenting a painted surface. Playing with popular imagery and recognisable everyday iconography, my work tries to connect directly with the viewer and the same time, to offer a senselessness which breaks that connection. Acts of negations such as, painting on the studio’s floor where the dirt is picked up by the canvas, deliberate dumb ways of making marks and the use of raw canvas which creates a sense of unfinished-ness, enable the work to turn away from the idea of “strong paintings” considering failure as a place for possibilities.

The results are often pathetic, with a sense of humour and ambiguity. Visible brushstrokes and pentimenti contribute to the feeling of suspended time, as the seemingly unresolved painting is left to be completed.
The history of painting is an important part of my practice, so references to artists are visible in my paintings, from the primitive to the modern to the contemporary.

Each mark, made accidentally or consciously, is an event and a record of the process, inviting chance to be part of a playful and democratic studio practice.