Jerry Anderson is an artist based in Healdsburg, CA. His paintings are an expression of his appreciation for the mysteries of life, the cosmos and the continual dance of male and female energies.
Working in acrylic on canvas, Anderson creates abstract compositions that sensuously pair color with form. Series of undulating contours and cascading crevices give life to anthropomorphic shapes and elements from the natural world that seem to extend beyond the picture plane.
Informed by extensive travels to exotic locales like Morocco, Turkey and the American southwest, Anderson’s paintings explore manifestations of the archetypal female image. As a result, his works are Infused with wonder and curiosity, revealing a sense of intimacy, spirituality and the sublime.
This effect is underscored by his visual vocabulary which is deeply influenced by Georgia O’Keefe. Using a vibrant palette of red, blue, purple, yellow, orange and green, his modernist tableaux produce a curious balance of feminine underpinnings and masculine authorship.
Anderson is currently featured in Unbound Perspectives, a group show which celebrates the countless ways a single subject can be interpreted and appreciated, which is on view from September 26th – October 17th at Agora Gallery in New York City.
Artist Statement
Painting is an expression of my ongoing pursuit of discovering all that life offers. Myriad connections and possibilities present themselves at each moment… a cobblestone street that conceals a face, a cave that reveals a woman’s body, or a dream that intimates cosmic relationships. Engaging in each painting focuses this journey for me and provides a quiet unknowing that reveals new surprises, new connections and a fullness of heart. I am awed by the creative energy that activates this life and indeed our whole universe. My paintings are my reaching for contact with this energy. In my work, the female form inevitably emerges as the image which most visibly represents universal creativity for me. My wish remains that these works wake us to deepening questions that remind us of the miracle, mystery and oneness of all.
How did the arts find you?
From my earliest years, I was always drawing and painting. This led me to study architecture in college where I realized that for me painting and architecture were integral to one another. I co-practiced both for years until retiring from architecture to paint full time.
Who has been a big influence to you in your career?
Those who have been most influential are the ones that illustrate the value of experiencing living questions. Some express it by words and others by their works. Examples are Turner, Monet, Rodin, Gurdjieff, Debussy, Beethoven and Miles Davis.
When you hit a creative block, how do you move forward?
In my experience images spring from some aspect of universal creativity. Accessing this creativity requires me to be in touch with my inner self. The “blocks” appear when I lose touch with this. Stepping away from the painting to another activity or to quietly view nature often helps me to return.
How do you define success?
Success for me is continuing to express what I am compelled to explore. In other words, when a work is “completed,” I am excited to move forward to the experience of the next painting.
What message do you hope your work communicates?
For me, an artist is someone able to channel some aspect of the vast creativity of the universe. I know that when I can get out of the way of this process something magical can occur and this magic may open the viewer’s eyes in a new way … and for a moment they are in touch with divinity. That is my wish.
What has been an important lesson you have learned during your career?
Painting to please someone else never works – neither of you are pleased. Instead trust that your painting is an expression of something larger than yourself and will find the appropriate audience.
Finally, what advice might you give to your younger self?
Follow your heart.
Anderson is currently featured in Unbound Perspectives, a group show which celebrates the countless ways a single subject can be interpreted and appreciated, which is on view from September 26th – October 17th at Agora Gallery in New York City.