William Meddick - Painter

Artist Statement 

 

Painting is my life. The subject matter for a painting is my emotional and visual reaction to a scene. Initially, my creative response is with all-encompassing freedom, the quick creation of gestural strikes of paint on a surface until it becomes totally covered. My process then becomes more labored and tedious. It is a back and forth procedure, comparing shapes, colors and the on-going search for an interesting composition. The goal is to attempt to unite the passion of the initial scene.

 

My art work over the years has been tending toward a narrative manner. My internal mantra is portraying my daily life (which is absurdly egocentric) as if it's my visual diary. Introspectively, my work seems pedestrian in attitude and skill which tends to be captured and emanates in my paintings. My subject matter is the daily reaction to my life and surroundings without the bells and whistles of glamorous places or styles. Despite an on-going love/hate relationship with my own work (which I consider healthy), I rely and trust on my personal artistic honesty along with the steadfast production of work. I feel my work tends to be something that means or represents a personal facet to the viewer instead of something pretty and pleasant.

 

I consider myself very fortunate to have been able to maintain a high level of sensitivity to visual stimuli around me. Visual imagery, which continues to capture my interest is “ever-constant” and is always challenging me for interpretation. Thankfully, this excitement of imagery continues throughout the year.

 

Above 50 degrees, I go outside and paint. Nature is dazzling on its own; add in man-made influences (factories, houses, roads…etc.) and it becomes a complex landscape. Being outside is very freeing. My work tends to stay looser and more carefree. Here there is constant change, less control, and greater vigor.

 

On the other hand, below 50 degrees, my inside still life and figurative work suits more of an introspective mood. My still life work expounds on form and memories, while my figurative work deals with personal thoughts and matters.

 

 

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