Bruce Irwin

The subject matter of my paintings varies between landscapes, still-lifes, and figurative works. One subject I frequently find myself returning to is human detritus, or trash, in the landscape. It seems to be everywhere. One cannot walk ten feet at our beautiful beaches without encountering bits of plastic, food wrappers, or some other man-made castoff. We humans consume and spit things out with little regard to the environmental consequences.

When I set out to paint a large canvas, my primary goal is to make it difficult for myself. The more obstacles, obstructions and problems I can make for myself, the better. I avoid trying to make a centralized image, but rather attempt to make every inch of the canvas vie for the viewer’s attention through design and color. Each painting is born from an emotional feeling, along with a myriad of disordered images in my mind. The next challenge is to make order out of disorder. At the end of the day, what excites me the most are the unaccountable elements which find their way into my paintings. It is this journey and discovery which drives my art.