Rylan Morrison: 99% Clowns - Artist Statement

My body of work is predominantly paintings of clowns, hence the show title "99% Clowns." Clowns are fun to paint because of the endless range of color palettes and emotions captured in their expressions. Sometimes the clowns are in poetic scenarios depicting a vision of surreal scale and a moment where someone might say "OMG look at that huge clown head flopped over on the landscape!" Perhaps this is happening in a "clown world" and these are simply portraits. "OMG look at that huge head flopped over on the landscape!", a clown might say.

The clown world sometimes feels like a "big joke." This sentiment captures something about the human experience for me. Either on the micro-scale of juggling being a woman, and a mother, while in a capitalist system stacked against us; or being a romantic fool while at any minute a meteor, a layoff, animal extinction, a pandemic, or heartbreak could happen. Joy is a radical act. 

- Rylan Morrison, 2024

Pictured: Rylan Morrison - Useless Tears - Acrylic on mounted paper - 9" x 12" - 2021