Robert Zurer “Xenophobia” oil on wood

I paint to grow. I paint to be surprised. I paint in an attempt to seduce the unknown, to wish it into being and freeze that fleeting glimpse in times ‘unknown’, once it is conjured, is still ambiguous but still somehow very familiar, very close to me. It’s very romantic, this trusting search in the dark. It is a dialog, a call and response. It makes me feel less alone. It is a struggle to stay open and pay attention and wait and wait and wait. They say, “God may not come when you want Him/Her, but he’s al-ways on time”. I love this struggle. I never plan what I will paint. I really never know what will arrive, but my paintings always turn out to be about our human condition – caught suspended between the earth and the stars.
I love oil paint. I love the way it can shine. I love the way it is slick and slides against itself. It’s so damn sexy. I love the wordless, mysterious meaning of color. I love that color infinite, like music.
I love that it can be always in motion. I love that it can vibrate. I am not interested in the static. I don’t want to play with ideas. I want the flow. I want the juice. I want the passion. I want to live in the question.