Paul Kauffman

Artist Statement

Life is really about balancing the sacred and the profane…transcending and existing at the same time. Growing up, my adolescent years were split between the structured, silent life of a Catholic seminary and the carefree, transient life on the Family Carnival. Do the two worlds negate each other by contradiction or do they expand each other with a broadened understanding? This proved to be my Artistic Boot Camp. My paintings represent wild energy and untamed brushstrokes searching for a calm place to regroup…a core grounding that soothes their agitation and makes it all come together. My art is not linear. It is a progression. Each progressive stage opens up endless possibilities for resolution. The more ideas, thoughts, and emotions actively entertained, rejected, or retained without fear of repercussions, the closer I get to inner resolution and peace – both in life and in art. Eventually, the beast is fully contained and inhabits its own sacred space.

Bio

As a child, two things have always captured my imagination…art and God. And even at that early age, I knew they were somehow inextricably connected. I spent six years of my formative school years studying to be a Catholic priest. After my junior year in Seminary College, I made a life decision to leave that vocation and pursue an education in liberal arts at Gonzaga University and later as a Major in Fine Arts at Loyola/ Marymount University in Los Angeles. I eventually went on to teach junior high art in the parochial school system. Although I have continued painting my entire life, it is only in the last decade that my passion for self-expression has taken on an urgent and sometimes obsessive focus. My art has been critically recognized and has been purchased by major collectors including Mathew Strauss and Henry Haimshon. My paintings have hung in galleries in Los Angeles, CA, Laguna Beach, CA, La Jolla, CA and Santa Fe, NM.

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