My earliest visual experiences growing up in New York were of vertical planes which block space. There was always the sense that there was a horizon behind them, but it couldn’t be reached without navigating a path through obstacles. Space in the city is a densely patterned architectural collage, sliced through by occasional holes for the sky or parking lots.
The imagery in my current work comes from photographs that I take in the city and other places I travel. I use the photographs as the basis for studies on paper, which I abstract and combine into larger compositions in Photoshop and on canvas. The images are either transparently layered, or gradually fade into each other, or simply coexist side by side. I want to lead the viewer on a journey through the painting which can be read in more than one direction, into the various spaces and back out to the surface again. It is analogous to the way multiple environments exist simultaneously in the mind. While walking down the street you can remember being indoors, or in another location, and still be aware of exactly where you are. The construction of this space is a problem which continues to intrigue me because it must be solved differently in every painting.
Anne Finkelstein
New York City, July 2005