Patrick Wilson
Suites For Mount Washington 39 and 46, 2008
Gouache and acrylic on paper
29.75" x 41.5" (inc. frame 33 x 45 x 2)
Courtesy of Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects
My work has always been driven by an emphasis on the visual experience – light, space, color, structure, texture. It wasn’t until after I became a parent though, that the true value and importance of the visual began to sink in. Watching my daughter and other children look at things (often very simple things), with openness and curiosity and a sense of joy, made me realize that they really do see things through a different lens. I began to wonder if we gradually lose this ability as adults, or if most of us just become preoccupied with “more important things”. I wondered if, as older people, we suffered from some sort of visual malnourishment, or if the skill of really looking at things actually began to erode as life lessons were learned. In any case, I made it a point in my art and in my life, to seek visual pleasure whenever possible, to actively look for beauty, and to try to slow down and take things in.