S     T     A     T     E     M     E     N     T


My approach to working is very intuitive; usually there are no sketches to work from and little predetermined choice of color. The result is the physical consequence of a dialog between myself and my materials while I am working. 

I’m particularly intrigued by the contrast of manmade objects like signs, billboards and architecture upon the natural world. These unnatural interruptions in the landscape become graphic mirrors of nature itself: street lights mimic trees; dwellings may as well be large boulders; neighborhoods and skyscrapers give rise to the elevation in a cityscape. I move through my everyday life preoccupied with viewing and photographing these juxtapositions. 

The foundation of my current work begins with a deliberate paper collage, which ultimately acts as a drawing within the completed painting. These emerging drawings initiate the conversation I have with the work, which is resolved by purposefully minimizing composition while emphasizing color and surface. My works intend to suggest structures, objects and landscapes; they are a reflection of the visual compositions that I encounter in my daily life. 

 My Tidbit Series is a study that utilizes informal materials such as found cardboard, product packaging, etc., where I again interpret the unnatural interruptions of the world around me. With a focus on minimal composition, process, surface and color, I work to transform the banality of the original materials into a complex intersection of plane and form. 

Babette Herschberger