bio + statement

Chris Farrington

Artist Statement

    I pronounce visual complexity in the employ of a unique style of line-art which has become the hallmark of my work. I balance this complexity with a framework of minimalistic form and composition, often playing the eye puzzling detail of the line-art against a corresponding portion of blank negative-space.

    My signature style of line-art confronts the viewer as a seemingly chaotic yet cohesive twist of tightly stacked lines; a style resulting from years of imitating, in a stylized and perpetually evolving manner, the wild patterns found in wood grains that caught my eye and interest as a youth.

    The lines, as in wood, may represent the passing of time, especially in the context of seasonality: i.e. wet, dry, wet; growth, death, growth; success, failure, success; etc. Given time, so predictable as to resemble natural law, these cycles will come to pass; and, allowed indefinite time, they shall rotate indefinitely.

    Of even greater relevance to my artistic vision is an ironic metaphor contained within the lines and patterns thereof: that the whole and parts of life and nature seem to operate by mechanisms equally dependent on chaos and order. For example, my lines are seemingly chaotic and are not directly intended to contain or conceal direct figurative or conceptual representation; though, some may be found, therein, by chance. This is true, yet, in all of their chaos, the lines and patterns seem to adhere to some unspoken laws of form, distance, and cohesion. They are like both sides of a magnet at once, attracting and repelling each other in a sprawling dance of predictable unpredictability; or, like heavenly bodies, attracting one another by gravity while evading at length their imminent collision by means of orbit and motion.

    Further substance of intrigue regarding my work and process, as parallel with the expressed experience of countless creative-types throughout history, is a conscious awareness that every stroke of pigment I lay down seems to pour, unobstructed, from my subconscious mind, thereby rendering myself a mere conduit in the matter. Perhaps, therefore, this line-art may be interpreted as a "fingerprint" of the subconscious mind, or cryptic transcripts from a timeless conversation between the subconscious entity and the universal-energy/oneness permeating all that exists; a realm with which we remain in constant communication, perhaps by means of some primeval language hence forgotten by the conscious mind, yet, surviving fluently in that of the subconscious.

Such are the foundations of my artistic endeavors.

In the end, however, reason or not, one must paint who must paint, thus I do.

Bio

    Christopher Scott Farrington is a painter, illustrator and singer/songwriter based in San Diego, California. The second of four siblings, he was born in Poway, CA in 1984. He holds a Bachelor's of Science from San Diego State University in the study of Health Science and is self-taught in art and music.

    The hallmark of Chris Farrington's artwork is a signature style of compact, detailed line art resembling highly-stylized wood grain or fingerprint pattern, most often executed with a small brush and oil paint thinned to an ink-like consistency; though, sometimes executed with broader strokes and in a variety of mediums. This unique and painstaking style demands great time and care to the completion of a piece.

    Common themes in Chris Farrington's artwork include nature, with a heavy focus on trees, as well as surrealist and subconsciously derived interpretations of everyday experiences and surroundings. The line art itself is fully subconscious and is not meant to cleverly conceal words, images, or specific concepts, etc. Rather, as he says, "the lines flow through me from somewhere else, perhaps by way of my subconscious mind, and are therefore akin to a fingerprint of that place from which they flow. It's as if I'm transcribing an ancient, primeval language hence forgotten by the conscious mind, still spoken and sung by the Universe throughout. The subconscious mind still has an ear for it."