Michael Berube
In my work I use the figure as a tool to express an inner dialog. A dialog that is sometimes conscious and defined and sometimes completely unconscious. I am unapologetically narrative/symbolist. I have choosen a narrative/symbolist approach based on my sense that art needs to re-establish it's contact with the individual and let the individual find an identification with the work based on their own life experiences and feelings rather than as a purely intellectual exercise. It is my intention that narrative not be absolute and for the work to take on it's own life once it has passed from my hands to public view, however I bring to the work a strong connection to my sense of who I am and where I am emotionally and pyshologically at the moment of the creation of each piece. I believe that the sum of the creating of and any and all response to the work is the piece - both parts being one. The first part in my control and the second completely beyond my control. I work primarily in oils on canvas and am as much dependent on color as content.
