Artist Statement
Gabbe Grodin
My goal is not solely to capture a subject’s likeness, but to express through paint
the relationship that we have with one another. My work is deeply personal in
that way. Like keeping a diary, I record the people I care about who have
impacted my life, so as not to forget
them.
Although I am a trained painter, I resist
a disciplinary approach to painting.
Instead of adhering to a formulaic
practice moored in measurement and
ritual, I approach each subject as a new
experience, foregoing mixing skin tones
in a consistent manner. Fundamentally,
I intuit the work. And, while I admire
and take inspiration from the intricacies
and intertextualities of painting as a
discipline, I firmly believe that art
making is for everyone, even beginners.
For my source material, I turn to family
photographs, camera-phone pictures,
and internet images, as readily as I turn
to the view outside my window.