As a painter, I am more interested in acheiving authenticity and honesty than I am in climbing aboard the bandwagon of what's currently fashionable. Bridled beneath the bright colors and risque¹ subject matter in my work are a myriad of questions and challenges for the viewer to ponder. I oftentimes accompany my work with narratives as most all of my paintings are telling a story, many of them true. It is imperative for me to establish a strong sense of humor in my work in order to soften the irony and sadness that almost all of my paintings embody.
My paintings take on a carnivalesque text and for me this has many advantages. Subcultures such as the vaudeville and carnival cirquits can be used as wonderful metaphors to bridge common man to his inner idiosyncratic human nature. A two headed man is forced to wear his duality outside of his body, while a common man has been graced and naturally given to hiding his own duality inside of himself.
Those born outside the ilk of normalcy have no choice but to make their disadvantages their advantages, where as those that have assimilated themselves easily into social acceptability have the advantage of hiding their follies. It is precisely this that my work guides me to expose- the charade of the Œidentity¹ that we all shroud our vulnerable souls in.
I have a strong respect and admiration for technically proficient artwork, and with each and every stroke of the brush I am consciously attempting to achieve a higher value of strength in line, color, composition and technical trickery. I choose to push the envelope a bit with my palette as well as my subject matter, and I feel that if my work is to be effective in conveying a deeper message that it would be best received having been completed skillfully and thoughtfully, with mindful reverence for the masters that preceeded me.
-Lesli Englert, 2004