Painter Andrew Weinstein ’24 explains his artistic process.
Winter’s Daybreak (2024, oil on plywood) is part of the Imagined Landscapes series by Andrew Weinstein ’24, a double art and art history and political science major from Baltimore, Md.
“One of the things I loved about being in Hamilton was that the scenery was so beautiful,” he says. “I’d go for drives, stop on the side of the road, snap pictures, and then bring those back into the studio to work from.”
In his senior year, Weinstein started playing with more ambiguity and painting what he calls “imagined landscapes” — based on an amalgamation of scenes. “Inherently, we recognize shapes, forms, colors, and textures as indicative of ‘landscapes,’” he says. “This series explores that visual language of landscape through expressive, gestural, and experimental uses of paint, materials, color, value, dimension, and format.”
He developed a new process, he says, “which was basically diluting oil paint with paint thinner so it becomes loose and runny, then applying that, almost like varnish, to the canvas, and then pulling away with a towel to bring out contrast.”
Weinstein is creating “moments within the work that push past reality and into the realm of interpretation, broadening the scope of ‘place.’ When approaching each piece, ask yourself: ‘Have I been here before?’”