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Roger Clayton's
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Price Range: $380 - $380
Bio
Roger Clayton (born San Diego, CA. 1956) grew up in Memphis, Tennessee. He is a graduate of the University of Memphis (B.F.A. painting 1979). From 1981 to 1988, he lived and worked in New York City. He has lived in Nashville, TN, for the past 15 years. Roger's wife is from Tokyo, Japan, which has greatly influenced his work. Their daughter, Sai, is five years old. Roger has made six trips to Japan.
Style
Much of what I paint has been influenced by Japanese art, from ancient ink paintings to contemporary anime, and from similar forms of poetry and prose.
Not surprisingly, these are simple paintings. I don't mind that they are primitive or imperfect. I avoid details, but favor essential qualities, spiritual or otherwise. This is not really an abstract leap. Instead, it is familiar and natural. The narrative can appear illogical, symbolic and even humorous.
Artist Statement
If these paintings were any simpler, I would be painting nothing. This lack of visual truthfulness was a concept practiced by the literati artists during the Song dynasty in ancient China. They would paint with so few brushstrokes that you could count them. But it was a line full of expression and spontaneity, invented not to depict nature but to capture its spiritual essence.
The Song masters were also the major influence of the suibokuga paintings made by Zen monks in Japan. Their paintings were more imperfect, but still full of depth and primitive simplicity. I share those qualities with them.
I like that when you reduce most of the narrative details, you literally see into or through the nature of the image and hopefully, you again arrive back at its essence. It is the subjective likeness of nature that you are painting.
Exhibitions
More than 25 exhibitions including:
Artquest, Frist Center for the Visual Arts
American Choju Giga, Donguri-Korokoro Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Larry Edwards and Co., the Art Museum, University of Memphis
Cheekwood National Contemporary Painting Competition
Rutgers National Drawing Competition, Camden, N.J.
New Works/Nine States, Regional Juried Exhibition, Art St. Louis, St. Louis, Mo.
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