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Artist Statement
There are many implicit agreements among people. Many relationships are held together with painful ties and suffocating knots. Some of these social contracts with others can be perceived as bonds that tie one down. Parental bonds. Marital bonds. Ancestral bonds. There are also sociological bonds that tie as similarities and agreements, but also as opposites and antipoles. Religious bonds. Ideological constructs. Racism. Genderism. And now during this pandemic, Safetyism. It seems that that these isms divide and antagonize, but also bind us.
‘Bonds that tie’ is a body of paintings as visual narratives. The title of each painting is a portal into the emotional responses within one’s relationships. These paintings are pain things. As large monochromatic paintings, they don’t answer anything. But I hope they have something to say.
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Resistance, canvas in acrylic, oil, graphite, and ink 48 x 72 in
In societies, resistance as refusals to accept and obey imposed sanctions and regulations are common. On the one hand are enforcements and obligations imposed and regulated, and on the other, aversions and defiance to comply and follow. Resistance as bonds tie both parties.
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Reciprocity, canvas in acrylic, oil, graphite, and ink, 72 x 48 inches
In loving intimate relationships are exchanges and mutuality that enlarge, encourage, and energize both individuals. Reciprocity is a tender dance. The dynamics of cooperation and synergy bind individuals close together as couples.
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Compulsion, canvas in acrylic, oil, graphite, and ink, 72 x 48 inches
Personal pressures and urges to repeatedly act when one is not even aware of it, urgently boxes one into a structure. Some people are even labeled as having an obsessive compulsive personality. Psychiatric disorders are modern strait jackets.
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Constriction, canvas in acrylic, oil, graphite, and ink, 72 x 48 inches
Parents don’t have manuals of how to raise their kids. Parents pass on to their offspring what they endured. Parental bonds are lifelong. As individuals we feel the profound yet subtle containing and restricting effects of our parents’ intentions.
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Withdrawl, on canvas in acrylic, oil, graphite, and ink, 48 x 72 inces
An affair is an experience of withdrawal on many levels is deeply felt when one partner has retreated and pulled back from the other. A shift of ending and stopping to be with one’s partner is very hurtful. The shame of affairs is intense and acutely binding.
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Regret, on canvas in acrylic, oil, graphite, and ink, 48 x 72 inches
Regret is an archive of self-disappointments and personal failures. Nothing handcuffs as one’s own inner policeman who is always ready to criticize and restrain. Not living out one’s innate potential is the most inhibitive and minimizing attitude there is.
John Faul | Bonds that Tie
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