TAL GOTTFRIED

@tal.is.here

“Vibration”
Acrylic
5x4

Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would have my paintings up in a gorgeous gallery space in Brooklyn New York, within the very theatre of which I am a company member. But then again, these are the types of dreams that turn into reality for those of us working with Michèle Lonsdale-Smith and the Gracemoon Arts Company. She, alongside this community, fosters an environment that encourages all of us artists within it to expand and evolve into the limitlessness of ourselves.

These paintings came out of an acting exercise we work on in class called the “Private Moment”, originally created by Lee Strasberg and adapted by Michèle. This exercise calls for the actor to recreate privacy, while others are watching (“private in public.”) In this exercise, the actor works on an activity they do in their private life, when no one else is around. They begin by recreating the environment in which they do that activity, through the sense memory of sight, smell, touch and sound. They then work on that activity within their recreated imagined space. It is an exercise that helps us actors strip away our self consciousness, bringing us closer to our most authentic, most “private” selves. We believe this to be the most truthful and thereby most compelling state to act and create from. Working on this exercise regularly in class over these past few years with my mentor and peers has not only deepened my acting, but has served as the vehicle through which the dormant painter in me has been re-discovered.

The first painting in this series “Faces, Places, Spaces... part 1” was started almost three years ago. The most recent painting, “Faces, Places, Spaces... part 2” was completed a month ago. “The Barbary”, for example, was painted over a period of eight months. All together, these paintings represent the evolution of me as a person. The process of painting these pieces has felt exceptionally liberating. I have felt the freedom to express what has often felt inexpressible. When I face the canvas, paintbrush in hand, I meet the truth of myself, and in turn, the humanity we all share.

I would like to thank Michèle and the entire Gracemoon Arts Company for their boundless support, endless love and unending inspiration - without whom, none of this would be happening.

I am grateful to be an artist and to have found my artistic home.