Murray Gainer

Artist Statement

I am interested in expressing basic human feelings and emotions such as loneliness, loss, sanctuary, mystery, longing, and foreboding. For the last several years I have focused on painting landscape, using the various elements of landscape – and often incorporating memories, dreams, visions – to develop emotionally-charged imagery.

I enjoy working with the inherent tensions involved in color, shape, texture and design but increasingly under the discipline of creating a recognizable image. Working from photographs, pictures, sketches, as well as ideas and memories, the final products are essentially imaginary landscapes, typically without human presence, and frequently referencing apocalypse. I believe the more successful of these paintings incorporate an emotional charge which acts as a gateway or connection to a viewer’s unconscious.