6 spring street
new york city 10012
tel: 212.219.0166
info@jenbekman.com

luke dougherty

statement

I paint still lives and people. In both instances I am looking for a sense of emotional resonance. My close friends sometimes say my work conveys a sense of sadness, I think that they are responding to the earth tone palette. To me it’s not sad, it is real like nature, suggesting birth and death. I am trying to expose a world that is below the surface. My process is not rational; it is intuitive. I base my decisions on my feelings. I respond to earth, cement, leaves, stone. My response is visceral and that reaction is the basis of my aesthetic.
I work in a way that is representational, that has caused me to look more deeply into the structure of things and this to me is a primary source of growth. I am forced to drop my conceptions and see what is. I am not a slave to representation - I sometimes put my objects into murky or undefined spaces. I am aiming for a certain impact and I am free to go to any means to achieve that.
I am always on the look out for something new to paint: interesting expressons, bone structures, objects or compositions, but several subjects have started to repeat themselves. It’s like reading the same book over and over again. My perspective changes. The subject changes. It is a rich process.

bio

Luke Dougherty was born in 1972 in Buffalo NY. He grew up in Southern California and New York City. He studied at the Water Street Atelier from 1997-2001 and at the Art Students League from 2000-2002. He currently lives in Manhattan and paints out of a small studio in his house. He is married and has a 3 year old son.