Joel Varland
I work in a wide range of media and dimensions which includes painting, sculpture and installations. Usually, I work in series with associated works, but beyond that the subject matter of my work varies significantly. The two works I am show in this show come from two very divergent series. 'Cubed 18' is a paintings that corresponds to four installations. 'Untitled 107' is part of a large series of paintings which deal with myths about frogs. Within the content, both paintings have underlying structure and imagery of mathematical themes which are expressed though visual metaphors.
Oil painting which is part of a series about the life of cubes
Both frogs and Gothic architecture share the unique attribute of an extended linear structure. Gothic arches are an extension, both mathematically and aesthetically, of Roman arches. They where created to test the limits of physics and the potential of beauty, spaces and light. In a poetic fashion, a frogs structure amplifies this same dynamic - an extreme embellishment of common structure. In this painting I have correlated these structures and forms.