My work depicts frantic beings, set against backdrops of empty spaces and otherworldly structures, trapped in situations of self-examination and desperation. Backgrounds and environments are shaved down to a minimum, allowing these beings to emerge as the sole focus. I see the figures as actors on a far-away stage. I strip them of their clothes in order to strip them of their defenses- of the mundane coverings of everyday life- so that they may be seen as abstract representations of ideas. They are not people of our world; they are physical manifestations of hidden inner emotions. They are the lead performers in some tragic play.
Often characterized as disturbing, the images I create are at first shocking. But at a second glance, they reveal brokenhearted beings just trying to work through the situation they’re in. I don’t consider my work to be an assertion of hopelessness. Rather, it is an assertion of tension, depicting another side of life that, while often sorrow-filled, is nonetheless a part of the human experience; a dark realm that, if one can find their way out, leads to better things. The figures in my images just haven’t quite found their way out yet.
Sumner Crenshaw