![I SHALL REFINE YOU IN THE FIRES OF AFFLICTION [ISAIAH 48:10] by Bruce Sanders, Image 1.](https://assets.artworkarchive.com/image/upload/t_jpg_medium_width/v1/user_73971/Painting_026_I_SHALL_REFINE_YOU_IN_THE_FIRES_OF_AFFLICTION_acrylic_on_canvas_24x24_geenpl.jpg)
I came to painting after more than thirty years in the motion picture industry. That experience trained my eye to notice character, gesture, light, composition, and the stories contained within an image. When I began painting seriously, the human figure became my natural subject.
I paint the nude figure because it is honest, vulnerable, strong, and timeless. Without clothing to identify a particular period or place in society, the pose, body, expression, and light must carry the meaning. I am interested in the moments when a figure appears quiet, guarded, awkward, confident, humorous, or lost in thought. These human qualities interest me more than creating an idealized body.
My influences include Lucian Freud, Egon Schiele, and Alyssa Monks, although I am not trying to paint like any one artist. I work in oils, using color, value, edges, and texture to create the emotional character of each painting.
Some of my recent paintings revisit familiar works from art history. I use the original painting as a starting point, then change its figures, relationships, or meaning. These works may contain humor, contradiction, or an unexpected point of view, but they remain part of my continuing exploration of the human figure.
I want my paintings to invite a second look. I do not expect every viewer to see the same story that I see. What someone brings to the painting—their memories, feelings, and personal interpretation—becomes part of the work.
“MAN’S NAKED FORM…BELONGS TO NO PARTICULAR MOMENT IN HISTORY; IT IS ETERNAL AND CAN BE LOOKED UPON WITH JOY BY THE PEOPLE OF ALL AGES” – AUGUSTE RODIN.
