New Generation Abstraction
LG Talbot

Hampden Pop-up Gallery in Bartlett Hall, Rm 156, Main Gallery
October 26 - November 30, 2022
Reception: Wednesday, November 2, 5-7 p.m.
Artist Talk: Wednesday, November 2, 6-6:30 p.m.
 

Artist Statement
My paintings convey a distillation of lived experience.
 
I spend every day — all day — in the studio painting. This serious time commitment has accelerated the shifts in my work and resulted in dramatic changes. Previously, I would sketch directly on the canvas with charcoal. I would pace the studio, drawing, erasing, and restarting. Shapes were often outlined by thick black oil bars demarcating prominent borders. Over time, my work began to change: No more charcoal. No more pacing. The black outlines faded away. Compositions became more open and less referential.
 
In the new paintings, I work with palette knives to quickly establish the initial layers of paint. I keep 4-5 large canvases open, working them simultaneously, impatient for the oil to dry. I continue to build a complex surface on the picture plane. I layer more paint and create more texture as I discover color relationships through transparent and opaque layers. In some of the recent paintings the colors of previous work have been usurped by a more nuanced palette replete with earthy tones. In others, primary colors set the tone. This is my evolution: Borders gone, Colors blended. Fresh color relationships revealed
 
My every day in the studio is charged and intoxicating. The paintings are bold. My work is energy, expression, and communication. The studio is where I feel confident and secure. These images are five feet plus. The freedom of a large empty canvas is exhilarating. 
 
LG Talbot Bio
Lora Talbot was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She began her studio practice as a ceramic artist.
 
Talbot studied at Penland School of Craft with Robert Turner, whose work is noted for its dynamic yet serene forms. Talbot’s early influences also include the sculptural work of abstract expressionist Peter Voulkos, who freed clay from its  technical limitations by expanding its aesthetic possibilities. Consequently, physical engagement with materials and an elegant economy in composition have become signature aspects of Talbot’s larger-than-life-sized oil paintings on canvas that now define her practice.
 
Talbot’s work has been exhibited in solo exhibitions at Five Points Gallery in Torrington, Connecticut and at Hampden Gallery. Her paintings also have been included in numerous group exhibitions throughout New England.  Talbot earned an MA at Lesley College, Boston, Massachusetts, and a BFA at University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, Tennessee. She attended the Penland School of Craft, Bakersville, North Carolina, and the Appalachian Center for Craft at Tennessee Tech University, Smithville, Tennessee.
 
Talbot lives in western Massachusetts and maintains a studio in Easthampton.