Allen Egan: "Short Stories: Forgotten Chapters"

Artist Statement

"I am a figurative painter, and cannot imagine a painting without a figure in it. However the figure to my mind must occupy or be part of a space or an environment. The completed painting needs to be a short story or part of a story in which something imminent is about to happen or has happened. It is this sense of unpredictability that I try to capture in all of my works. I use props and unusual environments to set the stage and set the figure at odds within this space. 

The final summary of the contents of the painting is up to the viewer. It is my habit to avoid paintings that are layered with political meaning but rather to make paintings that are impulsive and spontaneous. I gather together several images to combine them as a painting. Ultimately they are like a single frame in a movie. One does not know what came before and likewise one does not know what the outcome may be. They are short stories. There is no intent to manufacture a recognisable story, rather an opportunity for the viewer to decide for themselves what it all means. They impose their own stories and all opinions are many and varied." - Allen Egan