THIERRY GUILLEMIN
Artist Statement
Painting to me is a search, and in a sense a way of questioning and exploring my being in the world. For many years my work was purely abstract. This seemed to be how I could express most sincerely my inner response to life’s mystery and wonder. Looking for a balance of colors and rhythms that would touch something of the inner core, a resonance as deep and direct as the experience of music can be, not filtered by mental projections.
Unexpectedly this search for a sincere expression has led me over time - since we are being led by our work, rather than the opposite - to turn towards more realistic images. There seems to be an inner demand to integrate into my work images of places, moments, elements of stories - something I would have run away from a few years ago. It started with “figurative abstracts” where some of my abstract paintings would begin to include elements of the natural or urban imagery. My last show “When Time Stops” was almost entirely realistic, paintings of places particularly dear to my heart, treated with respect and affection, and much attention to light and to details. This form is something quite new for me to discover. What I find is that the same desire for sincerity can continue to be the guiding force of my work even though the form has changed so radically in appearance.
My paintings are uniquely mine, and you will experience them in a way that is uniquely yours. But something, sometimes, can be shared in this experience. When it happens, it is most precious.