“One teacher told me that my work belonged in the trash. That day I ran out of the classroom and ended up in the library, where there happened to be a black and white photography exhibition of Robert Rauschenberg's photographs of the streets of New York. The subject of his photos were exactly what I was painting about.” BlackWhiteTeacherHappenedStreetsSubjectsNew YorkPaintingPhotographyLibraryPhotographRanClassroomBlack And WhiteTrashExhibitionsBlack And White Photography Author:Jose Parla
“I never want to abandon my roots. I want to give my past and the history of painting the importance it deserves, including the masters like Rembrandt, who built up the surface of the canvas with transparent layers.” WantGivingPastPaintingMastersDeserveBuiltRootsImportanceIncludingSurfaceAbandonLayersCanvasTransparentMy Past Author:Jose Parla
“My work is an exploration of the self. I've always been concerned with how I'm living and how that reflects in the painting.” SelfPaintingConcernedExploration Author:Jose Parla
“You try to tap into a memory and you close your eyes and it comes back. So I was doing this in the painting and then that became a practice of mine. Sometimes it was a cathartic situation, a way to meditate.” WayTryingSometimesEyeMemoriesSituationPracticeMinesPaintingCathartic Author:Jose Parla
“People have thought that some of my writing and lines are done by a machine. I'm able to move in a way that's part gestural dance performance, and it's fun for me, so I incorporate that into the painting.” PeopleWayWritingDoneAbleMovingFunLinesPaintingMachinesPerformancesDance Performance Author:Jose Parla
“Sometimes I think I shouldn't explain much about my work because people will just feel what they feel when they see it. They'll love it or hate it or enjoy it on their own, like how I've looked at abstract paintings of other artists and cried or felt happy because I've felt, "Wow, I've lived that, I've understood that."” PeopleThinkingFeelsSometimesArtistHateFeltEnjoyPaintingUnderstoodAbstractWowCriedAbstract Painting Author:Jose Parla