"The central theme of my work is the ability of light to transform. Although I select and place my subjects carefully, they are mostly drawn from the insignificant artifacts of everyday life. They lack a strong ego and without the stage I build for them, they would likely be overlooked. The interiors I choose are similarly anonymous. I’m drawn to these spaces and objects that lack a strong individual presence, and I rely primarily on light to transform an abandoned interior and enigmatically placed object into a secular altar.

In particular I find that the quality of light can be essential to building the sense of tension I want in my work. The quiet aspect of my paintings, as well as my frequent use of symmetry, would seem to undermine any tension, but I feel the silence present in the paintings suggests an anticipation: an event about to happen. Light contributes to this quality, but it is also enhanced by my dependence on visual information from my imagination and memory. Combining these strategies, I attempt to build a rhythm in my work that recalls the pace of ritual and dreams. Paradoxically, for a painter who is most often judged a “Realist,” I find this rhythm comes more often from invention than from direct observation. " - Chris Terry

Christopher T. Terry is an artist and professor at Utah State University. He is currently on sabbatical in Rhode Island for the 2016-17 academic year.

Visit: http://www.christophertterry.com