Joe Moorman Artist Statement

I think a work of visual art stands or fails on its own merits without explanation by the artist. I think contemporary art fails when the story or the theory becomes more important than the raw visual impact of the art. 

I think of my art as illustrations or pictures derived from stories as opposed to decorations or elements of interior design. Each work begins as an illumination, an icon, a record of an important experience. This emotional significance gives the art a spark of life, but almost immediately the work takes on a life and character of its own, which must be respected if the art is to be successful. I am most successful when I "listen" to a painting and allow it to follow its own path to completion. Each piece of imaginative art seems to have its own internal logic, and I have observed that imposing the will of the artist or even the nature of the external model usually compromises the art.

I am in the process of writing a short piece about my early life in the Mississippi Delta and why it drove me to pursue my art. I hope to have it posted soon.

return to top