The latest issue of Houston Design Resources for 2009 features an interview with Imago Dei’s Jeremy Wells. The article, Art Revealed, explores the inspirations and references Jeremy uses to create his unique mixed media pieces. He has developed an innovative process using photography, software and various media executed in abstract or expressionist forms with organic references.
Here is the article text:
Wielding a palette derived from nature, Jeremy Wells, founder and contributing artist of Imago Dei, is creating innovative mixed media works. The world that Jeremy references in his art is not just the inspiration of creation itself, but also the inventions of man, the process of creativity and the interaction and juxtaposition of these elements.
He has developed an innovative process of combining his own digital photography, image editing software as well as a variety of media output including vinyl, canvas and paper. He then applies it directly to his painting surface, be it canvas or wood, and employs paints, mediums, textures and other media, peeling off layers to expose what color and texture lay underneath in a constant process of addition and subtraction, removal and regrowth, hiding and revealing.
Jeremy likens the acquisition of his source photography to “perceptual awareness,” the visual discoveries being the line, texture and composition of natural elements. Armed with high-caliber cameras, he seeks nature in vacant lots, street corners and abandoned developments, discovering the triumph of nature in an urban context. Jeremy comments that trees once “groomed to man’s ideal of artificial beauty, overcome their scars and become natural sculpture in and of themselves.” He strives to honor that perseverance of nature and “do it justice” on canvas. These new works are mixed media pieces with layers applied, peeled, painted back, sanded down, scratched into and painted again and again to achieve just the right texture and appearance. The strong organic lines of the original source imagery surviving to unify the composition.
“I may take a subtle, nuanced approach to develop an emotionally evocative painting, allowing nature’s form to determine the composition, or be totally abstract in expression.” His artistic inspirations range from travels in Italy to his native California and adopted Texas.
Q What defines your style?
A The moment. Painting to me has become about capturing the moment of creation within the canvas. It is a very lengthy process from the moment of conception of an idea to the completion of a piece. Once I have developed a concept to the point where I feel it is studio-ready it is very much like the final movement of a symphony where the entire piece and process come together to birth the meaning and purpose of each stroke of paint. Style is a byproduct of creation, so I try not to set out to create a particular style, but let creativity flow.
Q How does the inclusion of digital technology in your work contribute to timeless art rather than a hot trend?
A Artists have always used whatever technology they had available – be it charcoal for a brush and fire for light or the invention of photography to capture a scene for later reference – I am simply a small dot in an infinite line of creatives using the available technology of the day to scratch a creative itch. The work I create today will be meaningful in the future because I am attempting to use high-end production tools to create uncommon, fresh works of art that are still guided by the timeless laws of composition and color theory.
Imago Dei is a creative arts firm based in Houston, Texas with offices in Houston and Austin offering custom murals, decorative finishes, original fine art and archival giclée prints. For more information visit ImagoDeiHouston.com or JamieJeremyWells.com or call 713-466-9990.
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