A s Bill Adés’s love for painting grew, so too did the physical scale of his work. This is because it is the substance with which he works—be it oil, tempera, acrylic, or polyurethane— that is his focus. He experiences painting as a medium in the truest sense: as an intermediary between himself and the viewer. “Whether there is a subject matter in the work or it is in the abstract realm, each stroke, each dab of color is not only telling the viewer about the artist but also about the him- or herself,” he says. “It is an ongoing connection. If one tiny stroke or the shade of one of the colors would turn out differently, the painting would convey an entirely new message.”

R aw and powerful to behold, the paintings of Adrian Lascom act as a catalyst for existential contemplation. Layer upon layer of paint is hurled, spattered, dripped, and smeared across the canvas in bold strokes of color, with a process that focuses on an intuitive creative progression. His works are characterized by painterly self-exploration with a psychological twist, allowing the work to surge seamlessly from the unconscious in “emotional snapshots,” as he describes it. There is an understated complexity to the paintings; highly textured overlying areas are specked with color from the vivid layers below. The abstract style is only feigned; each work is actually an exploration that seeks to illustrate the powerful workings of personal history on the human consciousness. “When painting, there are no unintentional marks, only conscious and unconscious,” states Lascom. “I attempt to bypass the conscious mind, the cerebral censor, and gain access to hidden thoughts and images created by the unconscious.”