Jack King is an artist living and working between New York City and Austin, TX.

Artist’s Statement

I am deeply interested in the ways in which art, neurology and subliminal processes relate to one another. I endeavor to convey, in my paintings, the complex interplay between the human figure and its emotional and experiential context. My starting point is my belief that the inner life carries the same level of universality as the human form, and that our sometimes mundane, sometimes heroic struggles are all necessary for us to find pattern and meaning in the chaos of our life experiences. I am drawn to capturing both the intersections and senses of alienation that can be found between our external and internal selves.

My natural movement in painting is a reaching out, an attempt to capture something that inhabits and transcends the outward and visible, to depict the traces of the interior life. I use objects of personal, emotional resonance in my work to keep me from treating forms as mere objects. At times I reference and build from ancient folk tales, poetry and biblical stories, yet I also draw a great deal of inspiration from classical painting, as its subject matter is often steeped in archetypal conflict and resolution. These references are not sentimental. Rather, they form the complex foundation of associations that allows me to build on an interplay of experiences—my own included.