Over the years, I have been considering the nature of art, and its value to mankind. I have come to realize that the role of art and artists is fluid and it changes according to the needs of our world culture. I believe that over the last 80 years, with the rise of cinema, radio and television communication, the role of the artist, which used to be described as the communicator of the human condition, has naturally changed in accordance with history. I believe that every artist must now assess the needs of the time in which we live and make every effort to accommodate those needs in some way according to his or her ability.
For myself, I realize my tendency is in the appreciation of and the desire to express in some small way, the wonderment of human attraction. For those of you who are new to my work, I am introducing you to some of the paintings that best exhibit what I have been doing the last few years.
I see in elements of the human form all that is meaningful to me. My years of practice and exploration have led me to realize that all I perceive to be wonderful about art, I find expressed in the human form. Things that have now become important to me are imbued in the simplest of gestures where purity of color and form or simple human expressions, can exemplify significant ideals and I know my art searches for that.
Although I have always been drawn toward the human figure as an object of my art, and not withstanding the fact that I have been practicing all my life to be able to paint everything, I have discovered that my artistic heart is truly stirred by the subtleness of human expression.
My father told me time and again that I must learn to paint anything and everything and I have practiced for more than thirty years to do just that. But as with any other artist, I have tried to follow my heart and explore those things that move me, and have found that realism is the best expression for my art at this time.
It is not my goal or my aim to make great philosophical statements with my paintings, but instead to explore, and allow my audience to explore, those simple elements of human expression that reveal tokens of the Divine.
I hope you enjoy the work.
Duffy Sheridan