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reflects these experiences." |
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reflects these experiences." |
| Gaylord Soli was born and raised in the United States of America; originally his parents immigrated from Norway and settled in the United States. Soli has had a background in art and design for many years now, originally starting his own company, America's Cup, designing sports attire. He moved on to working in the field of serigraphy and founded Clearwater Publishing in the early eighties. He quickly gained a reputation for producing high quality prints for many known fine artists including Ivan Earl, Richard Diebenkorn, Mel Ramos, and Peter Max among others. |
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During this period of time Gaylord had been developing his own style of painting. He had shows in Southern California and Hawaii. In appreciating Soli's work one notes that he has managed to integrate a rich range of influences based on significant experiences and his philosophy on life. Gaylord intention is to create artwork that explores certain primary influences. These influences are diverse, but they share a common quality: the direct expression of elemental experience. |
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| Gaylord's 20th century influences include the works of Picasso, Tamayo, Aurbach and Hans Hoffman. He has traveled throughout Mongolia, Pakistan, Iran and the Amazon basin. Influences of African, Asian and South American Indian art can be seen in Soli's style of painting. Gaylord's fusion of primitive art and culture with his 20th century interests has resulted in artwork that contains certain "elemental" qualities -- | |
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Qualities derived from his contact with rudimentary cultures and the direct relationship such cultures have with natural elements. Dependence upon fire, water, soil, air and life itself is much more evident in these cultures than in sophisticated environments. The presence of such direct contact with the elements has left its mark on Gaylord's work. These influences can be seen in the colorful palate Soli uses -- terra cotta, greens, reds, azure blue, ceremonial gold, bronze, and so on. He layers, scribes and textures his canvases in kinship with early artistic and organic processes. |
" Color is a primary focus in my work. Each shade has a quality that must be explored for its own distinct beauty before being joined into a larger composition, in the same way individual notes are the building blocks of a symphony. It is my responsibility as an artist to preserve what comes out of that meeting, much as a composer preserves on paper the sound of his music. It is in the finding, organizing and arranging of color that beauty, freshness and meaning come together." |
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Gaylord's figurative imagery also relates to ancient history and mythology, reflecting his Nordic background, which is steeped with heritage and folklore. |
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