Paintings by Ehrling White
I’m interested in the wordless stories and explanations that appear to us when we don’t know what is going on in a picture. Our minds fill in the blanks, often differently from moment to moment. I want to explore this creative side of our perception. I try to show just enough relatable information to stimulate internal dialogues back and forth with the work. This kind of seeing is exciting to me because it can instantly bypass restrictions of logic and language, and become a more open experience. Ultimately, my objective is to make them interesting and appealing enough to become engaged in. To make the work I use automatic painting and drawing techniques, like working quickly and freely, with a variety of mark making tools, and I try to bring as much music and life into it as I can. The work is also influenced by my landscape painting practice.
short bio
Ehrling White was born in Alberta, Canada, but was raised mostly in Oregon, in an environment that encouraged creativity and art. He got his painting degree from the Pacific Northwest College of Art, in Portland, way back in the mid-nineties. The magnificent complexity of the the natural world had a strong effect on his art making, as well as the lively local music scene, for which he performed art and design jobs from time to time. As time wore on, his process became something like elucidating daydreams, which could be very tricky. Near the the turn of the century he moved to Toronto and got a job painting murals, and that is where he lives and works to this day.