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Jeff Faust
The Subtle Realism of Jeff Faust
In the canvases of painter Jeff Faust, violins burst into flame, oars grow from tree roots, eddies of
eucalyptus leaves swirl above delicate porcelain bowls, and cages confine clouds, not birds.
The artist's trademark is "subtle surrealism," the extraordinary juxtaposition of ordinary objects
resulting in scenes of daydream-like intensity. These are not fantasy paintings, nor are they internal
landscapes. Faust likes to term his works "visual poetry," because like poems, they are collections of
painstakingly arranged images.
"I started painting when I was in grade school and I didn't pay any attention to what I was doing," My
education was my own; it was a reading education and a visual education." He pored over art books,
becoming absorbed in the works of Miro, Magritte, Picasso and the Flemish masters. Instead of
following the circumscribed route to an art degree, he simply painted.
"I never wanted another human to tell me what to do," he explains. "I had no desire for some
professor or some teacher to give me their views on paintings. I figured I could get my own views. I
knew it would be a long, hard road, but I also knew it would be me."
The body of work that grew out of this solitary, passionate pursuit is at once strikingly unique and
curiously familiar. His visual vocabulary borrows from nature: feathers, leaves, eggs, a cluster of
grapes, a bird with a cherry in its beak. There are recurring objects and themes, as well: Spheres are
common motifs, as are painted vases, bowls and other vessels. Scenes are glimpsed through portals
and frames. The background is often a pastoral sky that gives the impression of infinite space. In
several works are vivid echoes of - or nods to - Magritte: a violin, a bright green apple, a cloud-filled
sky. And like the Belgian surrealist, Faust is a skilled workman, a meticulous technician whose work is
often photographically vivid.
My process is an unusual one," Faust admits. "I rarely start out with a specific idea in mind, they
grow as the painting progresses. I change my mind an awful lot to reach the conclusion I want. You
may leave one fate, only to arrive at another uncertainty.""I grew up looking at the surrealist work
and I truly was taken with it," he says, "but I am not out on a mission to shock people - as if there's
not enough of it in the world at large. We get so numb to it that it really doesn't have any
significance anymore. I've never felt the need to shock. I'd rather intrigue."Henri Matisse once
playfully claimed that he wanted his art to be like an armchair. Faust entertains similar hopes. "I like
to think of a lot of my paintings as being a stopping place," he says, "like a bench where you can just
sit and think."
In the canvases of painter Jeff Faust, violins burst into flame, oars grow from tree roots, eddies of
eucalyptus leaves swirl above delicate porcelain bowls, and cages confine clouds, not birds.
The artist's trademark is "subtle surrealism," the extraordinary juxtaposition of ordinary objects
resulting in scenes of daydream-like intensity. These are not fantasy paintings, nor are they internal
landscapes. Faust likes to term his works "visual poetry," because like poems, they are collections of
painstakingly arranged images.
"I started painting when I was in grade school and I didn't pay any attention to what I was doing," My
education was my own; it was a reading education and a visual education." He pored over art books,
becoming absorbed in the works of Miro, Magritte, Picasso and the Flemish masters. Instead of
following the circumscribed route to an art degree, he simply painted.
"I never wanted another human to tell me what to do," he explains. "I had no desire for some
professor or some teacher to give me their views on paintings. I figured I could get my own views. I
knew it would be a long, hard road, but I also knew it would be me."
The body of work that grew out of this solitary, passionate pursuit is at once strikingly unique and
curiously familiar. His visual vocabulary borrows from nature: feathers, leaves, eggs, a cluster of
grapes, a bird with a cherry in its beak. There are recurring objects and themes, as well: Spheres are
common motifs, as are painted vases, bowls and other vessels. Scenes are glimpsed through portals
and frames. The background is often a pastoral sky that gives the impression of infinite space. In
several works are vivid echoes of - or nods to - Magritte: a violin, a bright green apple, a cloud-filled
sky. And like the Belgian surrealist, Faust is a skilled workman, a meticulous technician whose work is
often photographically vivid.
My process is an unusual one," Faust admits. "I rarely start out with a specific idea in mind, they
grow as the painting progresses. I change my mind an awful lot to reach the conclusion I want. You
may leave one fate, only to arrive at another uncertainty.""I grew up looking at the surrealist work
and I truly was taken with it," he says, "but I am not out on a mission to shock people - as if there's
not enough of it in the world at large. We get so numb to it that it really doesn't have any
significance anymore. I've never felt the need to shock. I'd rather intrigue."Henri Matisse once
playfully claimed that he wanted his art to be like an armchair. Faust entertains similar hopes. "I like
to think of a lot of my paintings as being a stopping place," he says, "like a bench where you can just
sit and think."
A FRAGILE DAY
Click on the images to the right to see the enlarged version of Jeff Faust's art work.
PIRUM
THE SURROUNDING SEA
