With Some Expression...: Expressionist painter, am I ?

"I see you, no.1" Acrylic on canvas, 7"x 9", 2010
Lucy Inserra

I consider myself an expressionist painter because my paintings are an expression of what I feel, see, and imagine. Expressionism is difficult to define because it’s a mixture of so many isms’s for instance, impressionism, abstract expressionism, and even Dadaism. All of these isms’s are an expression that a painter/artist feels or wants the viewer to feel through the use of color and brush strokes. My personal experience in painting and becoming an expressionist painter was in 2010, I wanted to express myself through paint and imagery that would reflect my feelings or give a feeling to someone viewing my paintings. I had to dig into my soul and concentrate on what I wanted to express. Therefore, I wanted to share my experiences of my nightmares that I had for years in the early 2000’s. The nightmares would recur year after year and it caused me to question myself. These nightmares were of my family members and friends turning into these evil clowns. I would end of sleeping with the lights on and terrified of clowns. It wasn’t until in college in the year 2010-2011 that I wanted to paint these images on a canvas to fight my fears. I didn’t want to paint clowns, so I started with photographs of my family members and friends that would dress in boas and masks. The masks were a representation of clowns and also my love of theatre and music. Masks were used in ancient times for ceremonial purposes and used in theatre to represent imagery that would frighten or encourage its viewers. My first painting of my nightmares was “I see you, no. 1” (see attachment) Acrylic on canvas, 7”x9”, 2010. Even though, this painting is very small, it shows so much energy and uneasiness that I knew this was the direction I wanted my paintings to reflect. By 2011, my senior show was based on masked persons and still life’s of masks with wine bottles. The wine bottles were another representation of being brave while under the influence of alcohol. (See attachments of paintings: 2 out of 10). I even went as far as wearing a mask during my paintings sessions to get more of a feeling while painting these images on canvas. Now, in current time I am continuing to develop my expressionist style through painting using different imagery-abandoned buildings/houses. I know that some people will not see the reason why for the paintings, but as long it gives an emotion or feeling in viewing the paintings then I have done my job as an expressionist painter. After, my series of abandoned buildings/houses, I am planning on working with Abstract Expression to get more of a feeling in the use of lines and paint on a canvas, showing more feeling/emotion to express myself through a painting. Wish me luck!

My expressionist influences are Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Edvard Munch, and Willem de Kooning.