Artospective: Expressionistic Portraits by William Stoehr.

Misuzu 3 80x60 in.

An Interview with William Stoehr.

Who and where are you from?

William Stoehr from Boulder, Colorado, USA.

What brought you to Art?

In 1964 I was 16 years old and I wanted to be an artist. Willem de Kooning was my art hero but, the Vietnam War was raging, I couldn’t afford art school and I probably just didn’t know what I wanted to do. I became an engineer and ultimately president of National Geographic’s world-wide mapping businesses. 40 years later in 2004, I retired to become a full-time artist. I could afford to define success in my own way. It took a few years to find my voice – that which differentiates my work and specifies a moral foundation and vision.

What is your driving force?

For me, the essence of art is the exploration of fundamental issues of our time. I explore intolerance, discrimination, addiction and violence with its victims, witnesses and survivors. I believe that my job as an artist is to get you to think and to ask questions.

What kind of work you do and why?

I do large portraits – up to seven feet in height. They could be called expressionistic. Each portrait starts with an ambiguous expression, shared gaze and uncertain context calculated to provoke you into creating the narrative.

Tell us more about your thought process.

I begin with a live model and then work from reference photographs. I suggest certain features and realistically detail others. I use a limited pallet of acrylic paint along with metallic and iridescent colors that produce changing patterns with changes in lighting and view angle.

Working freely, I drip, brush, pour, scrub and scape paint while applying a variety of lines, dots and other adjustments. I often paint multi-views or facial features slightly out of alignment. I frequently paint vaguely different expressions for each side of the face. I look to cause changes in visual perception and emotional response. These variations might make my images appear more real as time, half remembered memories, and prior experiences affect your perception.

Please share with us the one modern artist whose work you find Interesting and why?

I am a big fan of Marlene Dumas. I like the expressive nature of her work. I like her method of letting the flows and drips guide her to a final image. She frequently employs a shared gaze. She pushes boundaries as she deals with subjects that some would consider controversial or unpleasant. Her art is in-your-face and gutsy.