William Meddick - Painter
Artist Statement
Navigating life’s extremes can be both exhilarating and challenging. The artistic path often involves intense emotional highs and lows, which can resonate with the concept of bipolarity. Understanding oneself better is a crucial step toward self-awareness and growth. I’ve chosen to follow my artistic calling despite distractions and societal expectations. Art allows me to express my inner truths, even from an introverted perspective. The ability to convey emotions and thoughts visually is a powerful way to connect with others. Being a loner doesn’t necessarily equate to loneliness—it is a deliberate choice to create space for introspection and creativity. My mental chatter about life’s inequalities reflects a deep empathy, which is a valuable trait for an artist. It allows me to infuse my work with compassion and understanding. My commitment to documenting seemingly mundane moments—landscapes, songs, relationships, memories—speaks to the significance of everyday life. My visual diary becomes a testament to a personal journey, inviting others to connect with their own experiences through my art. The intense investigation of subject matter reveals a passion for understanding the essence of people and objects. The hours spent observing and contemplating create a bridge between myself and the world. This reverence and metamorphosis enrich my artistic process. Challenges and complexity fuel growth. As an artist, I thrive on unraveling layers, seeking meaning, and capturing nuance. I embrace the intricate dance between simplicity and depth—it’s where my creativity flourishes. I want my work to continue to reflect the beauty, struggles, and disconnectedness of life.
Review - New Haven Lawn Club
Meddick's Art Enlivens the Club
I much enjoyed my long chat with William Meddick during the opening on Thursday. His is a
direct, unassuming and sunny nature that comes through strongly in his work. It surely accounts
for his prolific and various output, things which, in tandem with his prices, must give the competition pause. His resume is impressive—his is a presence on, and a contribution to, the local art scene that cannot be discounted.
His earlier pictures are built on the sort of academic underpainting that had its heyday in the
mid-nineteenth century and tends to suck life and light out of the image. Happily, this is giving
place to the much lighter palette evident in the rotunda paintings. After Courbet, Corot—and
Impressionism cannot be far behind. There is no artsy straining after newfangled notions of
originality; he is in love with the datum seen unconsciously through the scrim of art history and
within this limitation the transcription is, to repeat, direct. Echoes of Hopper and Fairfield Porter
are present, but without being stressed.
The image printed on the card advertising the show (The Moat) signals his current direction: the
view is from Fort Nathan Hale across New Haven harbor to the buildings that are beginning to
define the city. Direct and reflected light pervade. A small conundrum enriches the viewer's
experience of the scene. The water level of the early nineteenth-century moat depends on the
incoming tide—but how do we know this from the painting? What, in other words, is the connection between the two stretches of water as they appear in the picture?
Bill Cobbett