Kenneth Toohey

Growing Green

2025

My paintings begin with a serious sense of play, both in the staging and the creating of the compositions. It is at this beginning stage that I operate under the Dadaist dictate that “anything can be art”, and at the same time I seek out a balanced and harmonious composition by way of line, shape, and color. I work according to my whimsy, sometimes seeking to assert some form of narrative however personal or ambiguous, and other times I am simply satisfied with the hint of a human presence. Once I have my compositions the paintings then very quickly become about work, a very labor intensive work that forces me to focus my mind and slow things down (which I feel is relevant especially in this day and age of high-speed everything). A great amount of effort is spent on trying to get to the highest level of finish that is possible according to my current skill level. For inspiration I have drawn from the past four centuries of object specific paintings, from the ontbijtjes (laid tables) of the 17th Century Dutch masters such as Willem Kalf...

ARTIST STATEMENT: I choose subjects that interest me intuitively or that I am drawn to, or that I admire; and I concentrate on the details and slightest variations in color and ligh...

My paintings begin with a serious sense of play, both in the staging and the creating of the compositions. It is at this beginning stage that I operate under the Dadaist dictate that “anything can be art”, and at the same time I seek out a balanced and harmonious composition by way of line, shape, and color. I work according to my whimsy, sometimes seeking to assert some form of narrative however personal or ambiguous, and other times I am simply satisfied with the hint of a human presence. Once I have my compositions the paintings then very quickly become about work, a very labor intensive work that forces me to focus my mind and slow things down (which I feel is relevant especially in this day and age of high-speed everything). A great amount of effort is spent on trying to get to the highest level of finish that is possible according to my current skill level. For inspiration I have drawn from the past four centuries of object specific paintings, from the ontbijtjes (laid tables) of the 17th Century Dutch masters such as Willem Kalf, Jan Davidsz de Heem, Abraham van Beijeren...

My paintings begin with a serious sense of play, both in the staging and the creating of the compositions. It is at this beginning stage that I operate under the Dadaist dictate that...

These young green pumpkins can't help but be green with envy at their bright, glowing neighbor. This painting was done with quality oil paints on linen. The edges are painted dark ...

These young green pumpkins can't help but be green with envy at their bright, glowing neighbor. This painting was done with quality oil paints on linen. The edges are painted dark ...

Alex Amann’s oeuvre contains a variety of genres, which are, however, well-coordinated through their design. He devotes himself to still life as well as to landscape painting and fig...

Illegible signature Work on canvas