Gregory Ferrand

He received a degree in film from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1997 and promptly headed off to Buenos Aires, Argentina. While living there, He kept an illustrated journal in which he experimented with different media and recorded observations about his experiences there, the culture, and the people around him. In doing so, he came to understand two things about him self: 1). that he was a painter and 2). that he was fascinated by the subtext of human interactions. He returned to the States in early 2000 and began painting professionally.

The paintings he now create pull on influences as wide ranging as comics, Mexican muralists, and 1950s fashion to reveal the beautiful messiness of living.

Artist Statement:

My paintings explore the disconnection and alienation we often feel despite (and sometimes because of) the close proximity in which we live to one and other. 

It is ironic that as innately social animals, we often struggle to feel connected with our friends, family, communities, society, and the greater world. To overcome this, we ignore our instincts and learned biases, hoping to make connections so we can reassure ourselves that we are not alone, that we share the same reality with someone else.  

But what is “reality?" What is “the truth?” 

These questions regarding the human experience have long informed my work. Instead of answering these questions, my paintings invite the viewer to enter the narrative, armed with their own understanding of the world, in order to have an authentic moment to share, identify with, and/or answer these questions themselves. 

In this day and age when it can feel impossible to understand how our neighbor could raise their children, or behave, or vote as they do, it is incumbent upon us to reflect on how the realities we construct make us different  and also how, by just being human, we are the same.