Bryan McCullough

ARTIST STATEMENT

My primary subject matter initially focused on women. However, as there is a long and continuing history of men objectifying women in visual art, I made a conscious decision to educate myself and celebrate rather than objectify, I read every recommended book I could find, beginning with the first-wave feminist classics like de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex and Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique. As my art and knowledge evolved, I dabbled in theology and read books like Transgressors: Toward a Feminist Biblical Theology and Framer-Kensky’s Women of the Bible. Finally, I dove into third-wave feminism and intersectionality with books like Levy’s Female Chauvinist Pigs and Hook’s From Margins to Center.

Ultimately, my research was an exercise in futility, as I began to understand there will always be a gap between what I can learn and women’s life experiences. As a result, I decided to allow joy, humor and celebration to inspire my work. As an example, the feminist protest group Guerrilla Girls inspired a bronze sculpture of a masked woman riding a gazelle and wielding a banana.

In recent years, I found a new passion for watercolor, primarily flowers, as a nod to Georgia O’Keefe. I specifically paint irises because modern horticulture provides an abundance of color and variety. My compositions have been heavily influenced by Chinese ink paintings, as I strip out backgrounds to focus on the subject. However, in contrast to traditional ink paintings and watercolor practice, my brush strokes are never spontaneous washes. I glaze dozens of layers to create bold, complex, sometimes opaque colors.