April Deacon

This is the work of Ohio based artist April Deacon. I like her idea of painting something new onto something old. April, in her own words, says that she takes discarded memories, then reinvents them – there is something so sweet and sad about that.

– Antique photographs reflect the mortality of people and things.  They capture the inevitability and reliability of deterioration that I respect, but that results in an unnatural desire to resurrect them, that I cannot suppress.  The sadness in the realization that these people have been forgotten on some level and the symbols of their memories discarded to be found by me, a stranger, proves overwhelming.  Each image contains secrets and truths.  Influenced by the mood of the photograph, I choose a color palette. In addition to color, I use shape and pattern, which are informed by the natural contours and existing value contrasts, to transform each subject.