ARTIST STATEMENT

"Daily life sparks my imagination......"

In Bedford, Indiana, in the 1950's, growing up seemed quiet. We knew most people in town and they knew us. Long, summer nights were spent sitting on the porch or in the yard watching people go by or visiting with neighbors, family and friends. When I sat with my grandmother, she talked to me about people and how she liked to study what and who they looked like.

My love affair with art started with the discovery of Vincent Van Gogh. He painted what and who he saw everyday. Later, I discovered the photographer, Walker Evans. HIs photos of people living their everyday lives paints a picture of America. I find this commonality of people, no matter where they are from, one of life's most fascinating characteristics. Subject matter for my work continually reflects this. I find myself especially interested in older people. I am curious as to how they find the joy, the enthusiasm for life in spite of the ups and downs--or what makes the spark go out. Everyone has a story. I don't want to tell the story, but make the viewer wonder what the story might be or make the viewer see his own story. While the style is representational, I search for patterns of abstraction and flatness.

Today the slow and quiet is gone. While I miss it at times, I enjoy the noisy and busy--the crowded cafe, the full subway, the busy coffee show. The constant-people! But now my grandmother is me and I am the one who studies who and what people look like and then, I paint.

Julia Zollman Wickes