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Tom Ward

My work is grounded in the formal concepts of gesture and composition, but the intention behind each painting is to build a history of mark-making that reveals a very personal snapshot of a thought process in flux. I’m settling into a language of painting that exposes the second-guessing and trial-and-error nature of how I build a composition. The preliminary sketches are simply the first layers within the painting, and the right color is usually a product of having used the wrong color in the first few attempts. The scale and shape of the brushwork has a lot to do with the length of my arm, how I like to hold the brush, and the natural, left-handed slant that happens when I pull the brush off the canvas. Overall, I want my work to feel honest and personal, even if the details of the subject matter have been left out.

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