Artist's Statement: The focus of my work is centered on the figure. For me, genuinely relevant figurative art transcends mere representations of beauty by appealing to that innate curiosity, that fascination that we all harbor for our fellow humans. Frequently, it is the involuntary, almost imperceptible gestures that speak more honestly and enthusiastically than our words, betraying our true thoughts and feelings. It is this honesty and enthusiasm that I draw on as I attempt to elicit an emotional response through my work. In my figurative painting, I strive to establish a genuine presence by realistically portraying subjects in a believable space where all that is unnecessary is discarded. I allow the eloquence of the human figure to communicate how I perceive my subject. It is not enough for me to have the viewer remain passive, simply observing; I want them to feel engaged by my subject, reflexively speculating about the same things that I ponder as I stand before my model, brush in hand, “What is going on inside this person’s head?”…“What is he/she feeling?”…“What do we have in common?” While achieving a physical likeness is important, my primary goal is to infuse each figure within my paintings with a psyche, exploring and exposing each one’s uniqueness and simultaneous commonness. It is this apparent contradiction of coincident attributes that seems to compel each of us to probe those around us and then to extrapolate our findings to our own condition and to that of the human race as a whole. I want each subject that I paint to become a sort of mirror in which viewers are offered a glimpse of their own psychological reflection. What we learn of others ultimately serves to reveal us to ourselves. The interaction between me as the artist and the model as the subject causes facades to dissolve and to be supplanted by a strong sense of amity. While this psychological familiarity that exists between model and artist is unique, it is all too temporary; it endures only so long as the work is under development. Once completed, pretense is re-established and the painting becomes the sole-surviving artifact of our collaboration. Suddenly, the emphasis on the model and the artist undergoes an abrupt shift, it now becomes all about the viewer and the subject of the painting. For my work to be successful, viewers must sense, consciously or otherwise, that my subjects are intimately aware of their presence, their gaze. I want the viewer to discern that the interest is mutual, as my subject returns their scrutiny and curiosity, pulling them silently, irresistably into an intuitive, non-verbal dialogue. Thus, the viewer becomes incrementally immersed in an environment that I have created…face to face with a fellow human who is different but similar, comprehensible and yet enigmatic. Martin A. Arnold