Paul Norwood

Paul Norwood paints the world around him, blurring the lines between representation and abstraction. His loose, gestural style and bold, thick brushwork suggest rather than define forms, creating sensation without being overly insistent. The deconstruction of his imagery into an array of simple shapes and saturated colors expresses a heightened sense of reality and breathes life into his subject matter.  Paul is based in the Bay Area, but has been painting on both coasts for over 20 years. He’s had solo and group shows in many galleries across the country and is included in the collections of Sir Richard Branson and President Obama. “Communicating sensation through figuration has always been a central theme in my work. I never tire of the endless challenges and opportunities the human form presents. And by combining the figure with bold graphic elements, an invisible, layered reality emerges. Concentric circles echo the rippling of water and heighten the already charged world the figures inhabit. The aggressive handling of palette knife and paint mimic the fluidity and energy of the subject matter. I’m constantly striving to represent form with fewer strokes and a simpler palette, engaging the viewer to complete the piece in their own minds eye. I draw my inspiration from many different sources. The Bay Area figurative artists, the colorist approach of Fairfield Porter and the abstraction of Sonia Delaunay.”