When I began to develop an interest in art my father would take me to the Denver Art Museum to view the traveling exhibits and the work in the museum's permanent collection. I was always attracted to the paintings done in the 16th and 17th century which dealt with realistic subject matter. I found these particularly appealing because of the artist's ability to create narrative aspects using paint. They were able to tell a story without using words.

It was not until I moved to Houston and saw a painting done by Jackson Pollock at the Houston Museum of Fine Art that I had any understanding of non-objective painting at all. The depth he achieved in that painting with drips and runs was incredible. It occurred to me that his work had things in common with realistic painters other than the way they applied paint to canvas and subject matter.

I enjoyed the entire process of making art. I am especially fascinated by the illusion that occurs when a piece is successful. It is like watching a separate form of reality evolve. An illusion of 3-dimensions on a 2-dimensional surface is of course not real at all, but created with paint or graphite on canvas or board. A representation of reality. This concept and the process of creating a finished painting or drawing is very abstract to me. The finished piece is magical to me.

View Doug Sweet's Exhibition Resume »»