January 2016: Paul Trapp

Paul Trapp has based this series of works on the experience of seeing something recognizable and yet impossible at the same time. "On a calm fall day I saw a tree covered in red leaves. The interior of the tree appeared to be moving while the leaves remained still. Knowing trees cannot do that, I got closer and saw a flock of birds inside the tree moving but making no sound. That abnormal experience heightened my awareness of the tree and my surroundings." His irregularly shaped paintings are of ordinary objects and places; however, his concern is for the extraordinary and different ways in which we experience objects in the world. By contrasting familiar objects with spacial anomalies his work raises questions concerning perception, memory, and imagination. These spacial anomalies are intended to activate a viewer's perception, to create moments where the mind has to sort out what the eyes are seeing. "I believe when we see something inconsistent with reality we cease to be passive observers and begin to be active interpreters of our surroundings. Inconsistent moments help us remember that although objects and places may appear to be ordinary, they are not. Our experience of them can be unique, magical, and captivating."