Environmental Change: The Art of Jude Hotchkiss
Wrong Way, acrylic and spray on canvas
Jude Hotchkiss works primarily in paint, building abstract works that focus on the texture and materiality of the medium, and on evoking emotional reactions in the viewer. Jude’s recent works address the current climate of rapid socio-political and environmental change.
The Edge, acrylic and spray on canvas
I love the way Jude’s fluid brush marks look like waves crashing against some alien shore, marking a tempestuous relationship between painter, paint, and substrate. There’s a strong sense of movement in these works, and looking at them the viewer feels almost overwhelmed -- as though one’s view through a window is being rapidly obscured by a sea of wildly colourful brush marks.
The artist’s previous works have also looked at themes of mass change and upheaval -- sometimes from the perspective of weather or other environmental factors. The paintings are always abstract, and in working this way Jude allows for the viewer space to form their own interpretations and project their own experiences with change.
