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Stephen MaffinFine Art
I graduated from UC Berkeley with a BA in Philosophy, and had no formal training in art other than life drawing classes and drawing groups. I did place second in a truck drawing contest at age 6...and then after a long break of 40 years began selling work and established a studio in Berkeley, CA. I paint the figure, primarily portraits. I like to experiment with other media and images at times and some of these can be seen at ACCI.
I am asked often why I paint faces with so many unrealistic colors. I want to answer this question with another one. How is that someone can see a face when it is painted this way and furthermore see the expression on this “face”? This is what interests me. When I crack the plaster medium I use, I am looking for someone. I have an image in mind when I start, but I let the more or less random lines and cracks and the resultant sections guide me and challenge me to find a person within the constraints of what is given. So the painting never ends up being what I started with. The process leads me to discover someone previously unknown. |