ARTIST STATEMENT
Patricia Bruning
I paint intuitively, exploring the edge of emotions and the mysteries of known and unknown imagery through process. My paintings are explosions of color, shape, line and gesture, often richly worked so that background imagery is concealed beneath layers of fresh colors and marks. Much of my work is a response to world events I witness, like natural disasters or migration of displaced people. I also have always been interested in the mystery of the Earth’s multitude of natural resources, especially eruptions from below the surface of its crust, as in Geothermal and Lava.
I love the immediacy of touching the surface of a canvas/paper with a brush at just the right moment, integrating hand, mind, feelings and gesture with the expressive qualities of paint. I also use natural and philosophical sources as references for my imagery. Discernable images, natural forms, and the migration patterns of displaced people are represented in my poured acrylic paintings. The dispersion of paint and water reflects the movement of large numbers of people. As it disperses, the paint creates random patterns, visual paths, and textures that provide a unique way of seeing shapes that represent paths of travel, cities and villages.
MIGRATION SERIES
These pieces are part of an ongoing series of works on paper, symbolizing the journey of Syrian refugees across their homeland starting in 2011.
In these paintings, I used fluid acrylic paint mixed with water, then poured onto paper. As the poured paint collects in certain areas I manipulate the paper, directing the paint to flow in desired directions. The dispersion of paint and water reflects the movement of large numbers of people. As it disperses, the paint creates random patterns, visual paths, and textures. Larger concentrations of glossy pooled darker paint represent cities and villages along the migratory route.
CLIMATE CHANGE SERIES
I felt compelled to chronicle the California wildfires. For this work I visited and collected debris from Sugarloaf Ridge State Park, a site decimated by the 2020 Glass Fire. Back in my studio, I place the wood shards on watercolor paper, then pour water and ink to release carbon and minerals from within. As the water pools and dries, I respond to the marks by moving the debris, adding more water, and adding colors to the poured ink. This work becomes a visual metaphor of transformation and represents how fire scars the land.