newest work

2FT X 1FT oil and spraypaint on canvas

1FT X 1FT oil on cardboard

MATRIMONEY X PAUL WINKER

painted this for Matrimoney today, visit their site: http://www.matrimoneyclothing.com/

Matrimoney X Spray-Paint X Oil Paint

lil wayne series

I will be doing a series of lil wayne portraits… if you are interested in a 1′X1′ oil painting or a print, email me at paul.winker@sbcglobal.net or message me on facebook

new work

commission piece: finished… check it:

3′X3′ oil on canvas

This is a digital sketch for a painting I’m currently working on.  I created this in photoshop after an interesting photoshoot with my friend Tyler Hall.  This piece was designed to express an interesting view on our generation’s strong connection to the digital world through use of the internet, technology, and cellular phones.  I also aimed to construct a window into my friend’s life by visually depicting Tyler’s current personal feelings and experiences with digital technology.  His contorted and sickly demeanor ultimately communicate an uneasy feeling encountered when we experience withdrawl or detachment from technology…

Upon viewing this, take time to consider what happens to your own identity when you spend time away from your phone, television, and the world of the internet…

DISCUSS

As a painter, I find fulfillment in creating conversation and dialoguing with others about conceptual themes in my work after spending countless hours working alone in silence…

With these new works I aim to highlight personal struggles, generational issues, and an interesting paradox.  Though I express a sense of fear and animosity towards peoples’ preoccupation with digital technology, I conversely use many digital tools and processes to accomplish each painting.

I now invite you to use this self-portrait as a door for conversation…. comment with any ideas, questions, and relevant insight.

(oil and spray paint on canvas. 18″x36″)

my friend Heather Halbert took some rad pics of me painting this week. check em.

Here’s a pic of the two 4′x8′ backdrops I just finished for photographer Debra Shore.

I wish I had more thumbs to put up...

in progress

I’m getting excited about the conceptual context and narrative these small paintings are starting to create as a whole…

Where I’m Headed

At the end of last summer, before I began my first semester of college, I began to think about where I wanted to take my art after The Celebrity Freak Show.  I had been talking about the craziness of the media and celebrity worship in my work, but as I said before, I knew that I wanted to speak to a larger audience.  I began to brainstorm.  I knew that what I was inspired by most was the media, growing digital technology, and communication.  I decided that in order to broaden my artistic concept, I needed to decide what really inspired me most.  Ultimately, I decided that it is the evolution of communication and the changing ways that humans interact, especially amongst my generation.  I had started to think about WHY the media jumps out at us and WHY we love celebrities and reality television, and it really all comes down to communication: through television, computers, cell phones, magazines, video games, etc.  Without these instruments, how could we ever begin to follow media stories and celebrities?  …so I went to the drawing board.

I started doing some digital sketches, taking photographs, and writing down conceptual ideas that I had… And quickly, my newest concept had been born.  I decided that I would start to illustrate my generation’s attachment to digital technology.  After deciding this, I began to see more and more people around me and in public on their cell phones/laptops and reading tabloids… I also had a few inspiring instances this year where I was with a friend who had lost their cell phone.  I’m both scared and blown away at how freaked out and antsy people get when they are without their cell phones today.  I myself began to observe that the number of hours I spend on the computer and cell phone has been greatly increasing.  It frustrates me sometimes, but at the same time I know how much I get done on this laptop.

Here is the first statement that I wrote out and the first two paintings I did at the end of last summer:

communication is evolving. whether we realize it or not, the way that our generation interacts with one another is changing every single day. verbal communication is weakening in many ways. text message, email and instant messaging are becoming more common and are watering down language, grammar, and sentence structure (…do you have days where you talk online more than you actually talk face-to-face?)

combining aspects from pop and street art and inspired by the world of print media and the internet, my current series of paintings and drawings highlight possible pitfalls and isolation that come with growing digital and communication technology.

12"x24" spraypaint and acrylic on canvas

12"x24" spraypaint and arylic on canvas