Tim Murphy

“Deer Bunnies”2006
36 x 36
oil on canvas

During most of 2006 I chose to focus on rabbit and bunny imagery in my paintings. I considered it an exploration to discover what role the rabbit image may hold for my work. This bunny painting is a still life as well as an open-ended narrative. I created this by setting up a collection of some of my own rabbit related objects.

Rabbits have shown up as subjects in my work over the years - not always as main characters - mostly as cameos. The rabbits/bunnies in my paintings are usually voyeuristic surrogate self-portraits. Because of this penchant for putting bunnies in my art people who know me give me stuffed rabbits and toys. This painting is homage to some of these items and the people they came from.

My paintings chronicle my life in a direct but not always an obvious way. My work is reflective of what is going on around me and internally at the time I create it. The rabbits in this painting are amalgams and representations of people I know. The rabbits are shown subtly performing the circumstances that the people they are based on were living.

I believe that a viewer’s ability to completely understand an artist’s intent is impossible. Just as it is impossible for me to completely understand what a painting I make may mean to someone else. For this painting the viewers are expected to define their own narrative or bring their own meaning to the painting. I don’t make my storyline readily available and allow the viewer to fill in their own meaning. I also believe that the interpretation of an artwork by a viewer is the variable that as an artist I have the least amount of control.

By Tim S. Murphy
www.tsmurphy.com