CLIFF KLEIN

Within the various fields of color and mark-making, I utilize a childlike aesthetic to paint memories from my childhood as well as popular imagery and symbols from modern day culture and mass media.

 

When we are children, our brain has yet to develop a filter for the things we see and experience. As we grow up, our minds are conditioned through schooling, television, movies, music and the specific imagery and symbols that these institutions utilize. Our natural state of thinking is influenced in such a way that in adult life, when thinking and reacting to certain situations we are stuck using the conditioned filter of our minds. By incorporating these images and symbols into my painting, I explore how the mind is manipulated by all these so-called important institutions.
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I want my painting to achieve a wide range of depth and space without using the artistic tools of linear and atmospheric perspective By freeing myself of these artistic tools of academia, I can break out of the metaphorical shell of restriction that institutions put over young artists.

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The illusion of space is instead created by the varying marks and brushstrokes that are layered over each other and the push-and-pull effect that is created by the placement of color. We as a society are constantly bombarded by layer upon layer of visual stimuli and recognizable symbols to the point where we fail to realize how these symbols appear in our daily lives. These images and motifs affect the way we act, think and feel which is why I find it necessary to place these symbols in my painting using the layering technique. This is not just as a means to create depth, but to correlate with the way we receive the visual stimuli.