Thomas Hammer shares his Bushwick studio to reveal the process behind his new series, titled Paint Us.
Photographs by Alfie Friday, photography courtesy of Parenthesis Art Space
“I’ve always been attracted to the precision of sprayed media contrasted with more painterly brushwork. I knew what I wanted to achieve before I found the airbrush, so I was a bit surprised to see what most airbrush users were doing with the tool. I like to create tension and a sense of depth, and the airbrush is a good arrow to have in my quiver.”
“For a while I wasn’t using color at all, but I’ve slowly been adding it to some of my recent works. If you’re really disciplined about using color, it can be powerful and profound! It can add dimension, or a focal point to a work. Sometimes it’s a critical element. Sometimes it isn’t. ”
“I’ve always been interested in texture. It’s one of the reasons I’m interested in painting. I like letting the weave of the canvas or linen express itself under my airbrush work. I never sand down my canvases after priming them and like to leave little knots and irregularities in the fabric alone. I love these imperfections. Sometimes an accidental drip of paint can become the punctum—to borrow a term from photography—or the visual moment that gives a work its heft.”
John Platt reveals how color schemes create atmosphere and bring life to his abstract paintings.
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