2010: Christopher St. Leger
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2011
The Artwork of
CHRISTOPHER ST. LEGER
Midland Cinch Coat, The Pea Family, Upon Shards of Bat Teeth
Puer Utah
League Shiloh, Here to Tingle, Goosey Fit
Ober Quad and Fluted, Outcrop
Nieder Johansson Lab, Untroubled Face of the Way, Weakened Stems
Slab Welstare Gate
Q&A with christopher st. leger
001
In your bio you mention an automotive approach to your work – can you elaborate on this a bit?
I find driving to be what walking in the countryside was for Jane Austen. Such an involuntary exercise of being behind the wheel allows the strategic part of my mind to calm down. It is a lesson that I try to instill in my painting…which is to avoid big and complex strategies mapped out in advance. And so the emphasis is less on invention and more of a reflexive approach that focuses on the paintbrush or the emotion in music. I also enjoy the notion of viewing the world from within a glass container that strips away much of the senses except vision. I could go on and on, but really I look to simulate the tranquility found within the protective body.
002
Also in your bio you contrast yourself to a photo-journalist as to your emphasis in "image-making". What is the significance in this comparison?
A photo-journalist’s challenge is to capture that one image that sums up the specifics of one city, one event, one country, etc. Well, I use a similar eye but to create simple or ambiguous narratives that are devoid of icons and landmarks. Because I recreate snapshot scenes in paint, I am surveying one image edge to edge…and I wish for the viewer to long for nothing beyond this frame. I am the anti-journalist in that I wish to unplug any associated “current events” that I find to be a distraction from the immediate beauty of here and now.
003
Among all your work, is there one piece that seem to be favored more so than the others?
I have a few nightscapes in watercolor. The entire paper is blanketed with a dark color field, except those areas representing minute bulbs of light. I think of James McNeil Whistler or Childe Hassam and wonder if they received a similar enthusiastic reaction.
004
What advice would you give to new artists in this area of artistry?
I would encourage new artists to look at all exhibition spaces/galleries with the same open mind that they apply to their art. Don’t eliminate the opportunities offered by smaller local venues. I live in a small town and it clearly benefits from the spark of youthful, creative talent.
005
A question we like to ask our featured artists – favorite drink?
Coffee and gin. Though not together.
Christopher St. Leger visually examines the subtleties of place. Where one finds himself is to this artist the most deserving of his attention. His concern is primarily image-making, in emphasizing a watered down beauty found everywhere, more so than say the photo-journalist who is determined to make distinctions between this place and that. Before he begins a painting, he steps back and considers an automotive approach. This point of view is detached from nature and of one who sees things from within a moving glass container. To paint in a way that speaks of the limitations of existence, he sees importance in an accurate sense of perspective.
www.christopherstleger.com
www.christopherstleger.com
The Artwork of Christopher St. Leger, 2010 Vhcle Magazine Issue 4, Art
*Art piece: Slab, Welstare Gate, Original 21”x 39” watercolor on paper
