Refractions of Light: Pastel Art by Raymond Noesen
Skokie Lagoon, oil and wax pastel on colourfix paper
Raymond Noesen is an artist originally from Chicago who works primarily in pastel. The artist tends toward figurative subjects, using his talent for realistic detail to capture interesting refractions of light or moments of decay that lend a dreamlike quality to real spaces.
1666, oil and wax pastel on colourfix paper
Most of the works in Raymond’s current are made using a blend of oil and wax pastel. Applied to paper, these pastels lend to a beautiful smooth and even image surface that nonetheless carries just enough texture to remind the viewer that it is, in fact, an illustration, produced by the artist’s hand. Raymond is wonderfully adept at capturing moments where one’s vision might seem to lie -- strange reflections on the surface of water, or objects seen from just the right angle so as to take on unfamiliar appearances.
Raymond’s use of colour wonderfully complements his stylistic approach -- the artist’s colour choices often seem just slightly oversaturated, making each of the images feel like the setting is being viewed as a happy memory, not quite as it would be in real life, perhaps better.
