Artist Statement 2001

[Todd Camplin]

I would like to portray the figure and the face in a new light, a new way of seeing. As I say in my animation project, “I have an artist feel.” I like making this stuff and it really helps me deal with life while communicating my feelings to others at the same time. I am influenced by the Abstract Expressionist, Bay Area Figure Painters, East Village art, Minimalist and any thing I come in contact with while Museum and Gallery hopping around Philadelphia or any other large city I happen to be near. Travel enriches the very begin of me because there is always something new and exciting for me to see and participate.
I started drawing at an early age. I was explored a few museums and galleries, but my work matured when I saw an Edgar Degas show at the Chicago Museum of Art. Since the Degas show, I have been focusing his work with pastels. I studied and played with Degas' methods of applying pastels. My sophomore year in college I saw a Henri Matisse show and a year later a Pablo Picasso at The High Museum of Atlanta. These two shows gave me the beginnings for his unique style. I started playing with styles and subject matters, while looking and learning about other artist such as the West Coast Figurative Artists and the East Village Artists. Mediums became my next thing to play with. Applying what he had learned from his pastel works, I began to playing with acrylics. Using acrylics, I have been painting abstract figures. And, more recently I have been painting faces in oil.