about the artist
 

Not that any of this matters, but -

I began my formal studies as a Provost Scholar at Virginia Commonwealth University. I then transferred to Loughborough University in England where I received a First Degree in Fine Art Printmaking with highest honors. I have received numerous awards including the Yeo Tree Award at the Derby City Open in 1999.
I have held many positions in the arts including master printer for several British artists, guest artist and lecturer at several art centers and colleges, and a charter member and of art6 Gallery. I now work from my Richmond studio, teach, and am an artist and lecturer for the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. I have current representation with the Eric Schindler Gallery in Richmond, VA; The Blue Gallery in Kansas City, MO; and The Moberg Gallery in Des Moines, Iowa.

I paint because it is like taking a breath, automatic and essential.

And because I suppose I must - an artist statement:

Artists create for two purposes - because they are seeking something or because they have found it. And the truest art is both the sought and the found in one.  My work is seeking - identity, truth, balance. My work has found enough - beauty, comedy, grace - to complete the small thought of a painting. The processes of my paintings - the layering of oil paint and waxes, the intaglio line drawings between each layer rubbed in and then back out again, the final layers hiding entire narratives beneath them – they are part of my search. And in the end they reveal what I have found that is true about myself and my relationships to others.  I paint small intimate thoughts, moments that I steal out of conversations. A misspoken word and a jumbled metaphor are my starting points.  The power of a word spoken correctly – in one moment it drives into you, in another it may glance off. I capture this inconsistency of language through my art. So much of who we are is determined by what comes out of us. My paintings take over for me when the convention of words has failed.  They speak much better than I ever have.

You can contact the artist at inquires@rsawanwhite.com