Joseph Besch Artist Statement I am interested in the physical substance of oil paint. Always looking at the line between seeing the physical paint on a canvas, and the painted image it represents. The finished painting needs to walk that line just right. Oil paint on canvas can look like anything we can think of, but why is this paint stuff is such a good vehicle for creating the world? How does this alchemy actually work? These are the very basic idea of painting, sure, but still such an exciting magic trick for me. I try to bring this mystery into my work.

I paint from direct observation, in figurative or still life motives mostly. In my opinion, what oil paint does best, are people. The best examples create someone occupying the same space as the viewer. Oils can create such a fleshy presence, so painting an isolated nude is a way to have the paint create flesh and hopefully, life. The nude gives me the opportunity to explore the landscape of flesh, by translating those forms into paint.

My art story began as a teenager making comic zines in the 90's, very much in the DIY spirit, making photocopy editions to sell at local comic shops. In my early 20's at Art school, I became interested in oil painting and it's history, and decided that was my path. Looking back, I feel I've kept the DIY ethos alive in my approach to art making.

Developing my work over the last 20 years, or so, I have looked more and more into the old masters, and what and how they brought to painting, attempting to recreate some of the techniques we seem to have lost. One aspect I've duplicated is making the paint itself, from pressing and refining flax seeds to make linseed oil, to coiling sheets of lead in a vinegar environment to create flake white.

Currently, I paint from my studio in Eugene OR, and attend weekly figure painting session. I have exhibited around the country, including in 2023 showing at the Salmugundy club in New York. My short video 'Making Linseed Oil; a process' was featured on mentalfloss.com. I am currently a member of the New Zone Gallery in Eugene OR.

July 2025