Todd Schroeder
Statement 2006
In this body of work, I am attempting to present different concepts of pictorial reality, addressing representation and abstraction in such a way as to obscure their perceived differences.
The initial forms originate from a handful of distinct places: An orange peel removed from the fruit intact and then flattened, an ink stamp of a pond and, most recently, 2 specific Chinese landscape paintings. These forms, though representational by definition, may read as abstract. They bring to mind diverse imagery: sections of maps, drifting continents, the shorelines of lakes, clouds, spilled ink, human figures, animals, cartoon hybrids… and incite viewers to find meaning in chance occurrence, like the inkblot tests of Hermann Rorschach or a Chinese Tea Ceremony. As I work, I become more and more aware of space, color, gesture, surface, layering, revision, figure and ground relationships, and narrative, and I work to resolve each piece in a way that is essentially visual.
Todd Schroeder
Statement 2006 version 1
My work is about perception: phenomenological, cultural... I am attempting to present different concepts of pictorial reality, addressing representation and abstraction in such a way as to obscure their perceived differences.
The sources/references come from a small handful of distinct places: An orange peel removed from the fruit intact and then flattened, an ink stamp of a pond and most recently 2 specific Chinese landscape paintings. These sources/references are the springboards to a form, which may or may not result in an obvious representation. The resulting shapes (though representational by definition) read as an abstraction, bringing to mind a diverse imagery: sections of maps, drifting continents, the shorelines of lakes, clouds, spilled ink, and figures (human, animals, cartoon hybrids…)
These pieces represent the desire to impose meaning on chance occurrences, like the inkblot tests of Hermann Rorschach or a Chinese Tea Ceremony. As I find my way into the “process”, the work becomes about painting on a more basic level. I become concerned with space, color, gesture, surface, layering, revision, figure and ground relationships, and perhaps, the suggestion of a narrative. Ultimately, they seem to always find their way to a structure that is essentially visual.
