Domestic Mythologies — STEPHEN SCHULTZ

LIMINAL NAVIGATION

“Schultz starts his canvases by drawing in paint over the entire surface. As he proceeds through the “drawing” phase, there are constant changes. These changes are in the secondary content and refinements of the composition. The paintings are then built up with layers and layers of paint, of subtle shifts of lighting emphasis, of elements made, more or less, pronounced and diffuse. Frequently the paintings begin with more than one figure whose presence will wax and wane until sometimes the final version has no figure at all.

“The changing of the paintings is essential to their creation. While this artist has such complete mastery of rendering realistically, his temperament seems at odds with the inherent finality of that skill.

Behind this is the quest for the answers to life’s mysteries, combined with the consciousness that there are no answers, only a summation of impressions, a list of possible clues, an interim statement to be revised the next day in the light of that day’s reality. This personal journey, because it is the journey of an artist, leaves behind the evidence of the quest in the tangible presence of his paintings.”-Johnanna Hays