I have been a realist figurative painter my whole life and my subject has mainly been other people. I would do photoshoots and then use these photos as references for paintings. This new work starts out in an entirely different way. I meditate in my studio and then do multiple quick, automatic drawings with paint on paper, often with my non-dominant hand. My subject is my imagination and what I feel in my body. Then I take these drawings and photograph my own body (which I never used to do) in the postures discovered through the drawings. Using these images, plus photographs of my garden or other wild places, I construct compositions that merge realism and abstract expression into a cohesive image. In the end, they are still entirely oil paintings, but instead of pure realism, this new work uses whatever visual language feels like it can say what I need it to say. - Aleah Chapin

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