UC Riverside

This essay examines the notion of the real as it pertains to images, experiences, and the paintings that result from them. I advocate for a way of painting that I refer to as indexical and I surmise that painted moments derived by way of indexical marks subvert the polarized categories of abstract and representational. I make supported claims that the index relates to the uncanny in its ability to evoke presence in painting as it has been more widely examined in photography and sculpture. This method of painting is tied in with the subjects painted by myself and the painting subjects of other artists of the last century. I further discuss these paintings through the lens of cinema as well as the history of painting to strengthen a certain idea of the real.