My works are figurative narratives, thematic in nature. I start with a concept of some part of the human condition. I take this concept, research it, study the how and why, and then come out with a list of questions or ideas that inspire me. These ideas create the impetus for a series of paintings that prove out the original concept. To narrate the concept I paint primarily in oils for their rich pigments and occasionally bring in mixed media to make it interesting.
Lately, my inspiration comes from research on how the brain reacts to romance scientifically. In exploring the research’s findings, I find it interesting that the brain reacts to lust the same way it does to controlled substances. Nature’s drug makes people so happy, energetic and unnatural. I hope to capture that short-lived moment of hyper-emotion in the work.
Time affects how the brain processes love, moving it to a different area of our gray matter, and storing that emotion or memory of that emotion, with other everyday activities. The brain treats aged love as mundane, which inspires me to paint couples in this way as well. How the brain falls in love and processes this emotion is not completely understood by scientists. But we are all affected by it, I am. The goal of this series, and all my work, is to create a dialog around the concept as it is presented in the paintings.
Mays Mayhew – Love
Love, 2001
I saw Mays Mayhew at the Buck Town Art Fest, August 2009