2025
Daniel Pailes-Friedman
In Japanese meditation there is a focus on breathing in order to empty the mind of thoughts. The idea is that becoming “empty” results in a more focused awareness of everything. The relationships between empty and full, positive and negative are part of the underlying structure of my art. Establishing space for forms to breath is critical for stronger compositions with more fluidity.
One of the greatest inspirations for me is Color. While I paint, I’m contemplating how different colors relate to each other. Color rarely exists just by itself but generally in combination with other colors. To me it is similar to music. Notes are individual sounds but come to life when combined with other notes. Varying from transparent to opaque, bright or subdued, color works to transition forms from positive to negative spaces and assists in setting the composition in motion and creating a mood
There are two ways that I make decisions but in reality probably an infinite number of degrees in between. On the one hand, conscious control is suppressed and an automatic spontaneous drawing is used. On the other, there is a slow and deliberate process of weighing what color and tone to apply as the painting evolves. Some paintings come quickly and some take months. Each piece leads to the next.
Daniel Pailes-Friedman
In Japanese meditation there is a focus on breathing in order to empty the mind of thoughts. The idea is that becoming “empty” results in a more focused awareness of everything. The relationships between empty and full, positive and negative are part of the underlying structure of my art. Establishing space for forms to breath is critical for stronger compositions with more fluidity.
One of the greatest inspirations for me is Color. While I paint, I’m contemplating how different colors relate to each other. Color rarely exists just by itself but generally in combination with other colors. To me it is similar to music. Notes are individual sounds but come to life when combined with other notes. Varying from transparent to opaque, bright or subdued, color works to transition forms from positive to negative spaces and assists in setting the composition in motion and creating a mood
There are two ways that I make decisions but in reality probably an infinite number of degrees in between. On the one hand, conscious control is suppressed and an automatic spontaneous drawing is used. On the other, there is a slow and deliberate process of weighing what color and tone to apply as the painting evolves. Some paintings come quickly and some take months. Each piece leads to the next.