Charles Goolsby

My paintings of landscapes reside between complete stillness and sweeping gestural chaos; specific place and fiction; rendered realism and ambiguous abstraction; and physical object and illusionary pictorial space. Within these dichotomies, my images result in visual expressions of beauty, familiarity, liminal transitions, and anxiety. In many ways I see my work as an extension of 19th century traditions, an American obsession that land is a commodity to be consumed, and an effort to raise awareness that we as humans, are often finding ourselves in isolation interacting with our locations.  

My paintings are inspired from explorations of my region where I live and also my travels. I seek to transform my observations into works of psychological drama.  I am interested in paint as a physical material, which leads me to approach canvases with a gestural and liberal handling of the medium. Physicality and richness are two characteristics of oil paint and I wish to exploit them to their fullest extent. 

I am fascinated with issues of space and the dynamics it has to offer in terms of illusionary depth within the picture plane.  I am continuously searching for a personal, convincing, and restricted color palette that is effective in delivering an emotional punch. I am aware of changing light, its levels of contrast and diffusion, and its role in shaping our emotional responses. Mystery, monumentality, and ambiguity are ongoing key components of my work.