As an artist I am preoccupied with exploring the nature of narrative, specifically the challenge of communication confronted by the multiplicity of meaning. Narrative painting, historically, was mythological, religious, political. My work with narrative is founded on a lack of coherent, recognizable referents, the absence of a collective myth. Moments are depicted in media res, yet their context is ambiguous. I tempt viewers to invent explanatory narratives, taking advantage of their basic desire to produce meaning. I believe this process mimics the way in which we invent personal narratives as we create our perceptions of the world; or, perhaps, it approximates how our semi-conscious minds string the narrative thread across disjointed, half-remembered dream images. My working process, in all media, is a quasi-visionary excavation of the dreamstate, drawing on my reading of myth, science, history, philosophy and the occult to create highly resonant narratives.

My artwork is primarily figurative with a strong abstract compositional foundation. Many of the pieces refer directly to a range of Modernist modes of representation, from Symbolism to Cubism, from Surrealism to Abstract Expressionism. In addition to my work in encaustic, I have worked extensively with digital photography and collage, as well as in electronic music.


Richard B. Gann