Remote Futures 2012

Darren Waterston made this hazy painting, "Remote Futures," with oil and pigment wax on panel. I like to imagine Waterston layering thin washes of diluted pigment, coaxing these misty forms into being. See how those blues and greys at the bottom bleed and blend, while touches of red dance across the surface? It's like a landscape emerging from a dream. I can almost feel him, brush in hand, stepping back, squinting, and then adding another delicate stroke. Waterston’s paintings often evoke natural forms and otherworldly visions, pushing the boundaries between abstraction and figuration. You know, it makes me think of Turner's seascapes, or maybe even some of Whistler's more atmospheric nocturnes. But Waterston brings his own contemporary sensibility to it. Artists are always in conversation, aren’t they? Each one building on what came before, pushing painting forward while looking back. It’s kind of beautiful, really. Each brushstroke holds a world of potential.