If you ask Austin Eddy what his work is about heâll tell you point blank that itâs about love and loneliness. Thereâs nothing to hide. The work is formally and literally black and white to him, although far from simple. Painting on raw canvas, Austin limits the palate, and size in order to reveal ultimate honesty. Without color, there is no other tricks to pull. His extensive bank of mark making and paint handling on the raw canvas mimics the complexity of a single raw feeling whether it be catching a moment of lovers at night, or the deflated feeling of loneliness. On the other hand, Eddyâs playfulness and inventive mark making brings a lighter side to seeing the work as fun. The work reflects on history and progress simultaneously in a way that the viewer can almost see how each paintingâs surface was constructed with carefully placed marks, mistakes, and solutions. In many ways, the raw canvas sets Austin up for some kind of mistake, however you rarely see it unresolved. Eddy shows an intelligence for executing this kind of problem.
