“I don’t know what to say about what I paint, really". This statement from Balthus is really mine.
All artists, I believe, are engaged into a powerful yet subtle mean of communication with their artwork: no matter what I will say or paint, people will “read” more in it, or less, or differently.
From inception to execution, each of my paintings is an adventure: this is the way I feel it, and this is why I enjoy it so much.
I also love imitating great painters: When I develop some affinity with an artist, I deconstruct one of its artwork (a learning process), then reconstruct it (creating something new), in some way, my way, trying to emulate the artist’s style, to use his/her distinctive language. Dali said "those who do not want to imitate anything, produce nothing."
My artwork developed in "series": for instance the CARTOONISH series is around the themes of circus, dance, orchestra, mythology, museum visits, scientific challenges: "The Equilibrists", "The Tango", "Cantatrice & Cellist", "Minotaur & Centaur", “Cindy Exhibit”, "Higgs Charm".
This website (teiling.com) is organized in "Galleries", more or less my "Series".
Perhaps, a characteristic of my artwork is what I call the K-factor, to assess a social element:
I draw and paint to explore/expose the unconscious mind within social settings (scenes), inviting the observer to experience alternative realities, to confront ambiguities, and to play with his/her own imagination.
Selected paintings for the Galleria 360 exhibition in Florence exemplified this orientation: “Pianist & Cellist”, “Tamer Woman” (La dompteuse), “Le Peintre et son Modele”. Not so simple, two more paintings “Inferences” and “Planet’s Heritage” with multiple interpretations, could become “conversation openers”...
Then, end of 2016, still in the Galleria360, I presented my "Onedee" world... reserved for children and advanced physicists...
Painting is a unique form of communication language, its value is to communicate what cannot be said: I hope some visitors will share this point of view, and we can still try to communicate with words and comments, always welcomed! And if you have an original idea... then I can draw it or paint it!
Bernard Teiling
www.teiling.com