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Arthur VI
Costa Vavagiakis
New York City, New York
Oil on wood panel, 2005
36 x 29 in. (91.4 x 73.7 cm)
Collection of the artist
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Artist Statement:
My primary vehicle of expression is the human figure. Painting from direct observation, and with an emphasis on form, I aim to give expression to the sitter’s physiognomy. To accomplish this, I meticulously layer paint to develop the form. Working into the surface of the painting by repeatedly scraping and sanding, I make radical adjustments until both space and figure are fully articulated into a palpable image. Through creating the illusion that the image has been sculpted out of pigment, the figure can then be projected assertively into viewer’s spaceā”heightening that can take several years to complete.
This portrait is a painting of my dear friend Arthur Hammer, a fellow artist. We have drawn and painted each other for several years now. Like most of my portraits, they are not commissioned. They are personal statements, where light, form and space serve the sitter’s emotion.
