Oil on canvas.
36x48"
The importance of this painting falls on the context of the story behind it. From the first time I saw the Cirque Du Soleil show – Corteo, I was drawn to this character. Little did I know at the time I would end up spending a year watching this very show 3-4 times a week. No matter how many times I watched it, the "White Clown" never seized to mesmerize me, holding my gaze in every act. For the White Clown, appearances are what matters most. He is an authority figure that represents tradition and order. Of all the colourful characters, he admires only the stars and scorns the others. He is the one who opens the door to the magic of the circus. Off stage was when the human behind the character of the white clown reviled himself. Marcello radiated love, sympathy, hope, and joy. In this painting my intentionality was to mould Marcello and White Clown’s personalities together, becoming a proper, yet kind-eyed clown while exposing his authentic humanity.
This is my favourite painting of the series.
Leah Probst is a Toronto-based Canadian artist who grew up in Caledon, Ontario in a creative family. As her passion for making art grew, she began to focus on acrylic painting and soft pastel drawing using people and animals as her subjects. Probst went on to post-secondary school at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario where she completed her Advanced Diploma in Fine Arts. After graduation, she continued her studies at the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD U) to complete her Bachelor of Fine Arts. Probst has exhibited and sold multiple original works in art shows in galleries throughout North America. Her work mainly focusing on portraits and figures in a heightened realistic style. Probst believes that a painting should tell a story, allowing each viewer to slow down and see the beauty it brings – for each individual to take away a unique experience shared with the work of art.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
My work explores creative expression by combining figurative painting with texture, movement and experimentation of different mediums. Working mainly in acrylic and oil paint, I convey the meaning, story, and visual inspiration behind each work.
I aim to capture the physical likeness and the uniqueness of the individual. I convey clarity and honesty to the portrait, inviting the viewer to appreciate the fundamentals of the subject. I reveal the individual, looking beyond the surface toward the human condition with empathy to the personal connection I have with each subject I paint. The evident slowness in my paintings acknowledge attention paid to the layering of information, built-up levels of paint, and a complexity of mixed colours which bring the paintings to life.
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