BravinLee programs is very pleased to present Cosmic Trigger, new paintings by Clint Jukkala.
Clint Jukkala’s new paintings combine elements of landscape, abstraction and portraiture into one enigmatic, compelling and almost satirical image. The paintings suggest that seeing and believing are subjective acts without absolutes. Observation is a meeting of minds, a negotiated agreement between the artist’s painterly devices and the viewer’s various contraptions for seeing and perceiving.
Artist’s Statement:
“I've been thinking about perspective and the lenses through which we see. The idea that in many ways the outer world- "reality" is a fiction performed in our mind- a combination of our nervous system and lived experiences. I'm interested in our awareness of our own thinking and sense perceptions- our consciousness. I approach this with a sense of humor that reflects the irrational space of knowing and believing.I want my paintings to encourage the viewer to think about looking in through looking out and vice versa. For a while now I've been interested in frames and framing devices- first these elements were rectangular, now they are often circular or oval-like. They tend to suggest eyes, goggles and periscopes- things to look through or things looking out. These forms exist in worlds that often evoke landscape elements like water, grass and sky. I want the paintings to point in many directions without settling in any one place.
I conceive of painting as tactile as well as visual and I'm guided by the experiential qualities of both color and material.”
Clint Jukkala received his BFA from the University of Washington in Seattle and his MFA from Yale. His work has been shown at Feature Inc., and Jeff Bailey Gallery in New York, The deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln, MA, and Fred Giampietro Gallery in New Haven, CT. He lives in Philadelphia and is Chair of the Graduate Program at PAFA- Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.