First Friday September: Paintings by Dana Rader

I believe that outside all of our windows is the vast beauty in the world, which often ends up being my sole inspiration for many paintings. I am continually working with the transparent separation between the walls of nature, really focused on how textures (both mediums and various materials) play into the composition. I work with layers of thick and thin color, applied with brushes, palate knives, and various tools. Traces are intentionally left from layers below. Often scraping and sanding into wet paint, I reveal the past of each painting. Surfaces are wiped, dripped and splattered, all adding to an eventual sense of space and accumulation and the essence of time.

Although characterized as simple paintings, they are built with complexity. Open for judgment, I want my paintings to be appreciated for their emotion they bring to the individual. I like to create harmony within my work, yet build an underlying tension.

I think of myself as the designer and architect during the creation of my abstract compositions. I am creating a map of 3-D space on a 2-D plane. Not only do they bring pleasure to create, these highly experimental paintings focus on the formal aspects of art: color, line, paint, handling, gesture, attitude, harmony, balance, and texture. Using fields of color, textures, and lines, I am creating spaces within the piece, often testing these formal aspects, and what is expected.