Eric Holzman
The work of the New York based painter Eric Holzman, draws from the countryside around him and is charged with a sense of mystery and feeling that defies conventional forms of articulation. He tells us about the source of his inspiration and his interest in the work of British artists from the 19th Century.
Left: Embankment#3, Right: Valentine. Eric Holzman
Can you tell us about your latest series?
Eric Holzman: The subject matter of my work doesn’t change all that much but it is gradually becoming less conceptual and embracing a more abstract sensibility. These paintings come from a completely intuitive place with no conceptual scaffolding.
Are you working directly from what you see?
''Mostly they begin in nature or with a model. Sometimes they go on in the studio for years and they change and alter with little or big adjustments – sometimes really complete overhauls. It's all about feeling. They are meant to bypass the mind. What else can I say? They are really aimed at the heart.
They are very poetic. There is an underlying lyricism to them…
Yeah, they should come across like music, you know, how a song gets stuck inside your head.
Your new painting Crestwood has the psychedelic tones and energy of William Blake.
'Yes, I like Blake as a poet and mystic, but I am much more familiar with other English artists such as Turner, Dickens, DH Lawrence and Lawrence Durrell, all of whom I find very inspiring. There are a couple of Turner’s Italian paintings that I love a lot! And that influenced me and my work Crestwood.
Left: Branford #21. Right: Crestwood. Eric Holzman
It could be something out of Paradise Lost.
I am interested in Paradise found, not lost! And I just remembered that along with Blake I'd include Samuel Palmer, another exciting English visionary.
Palmer and the Ancients idolized a more spiritual and rural past. Looking at your subject matter are you also idealizing a pre-industrial world?
I am inventing a world, I mean I see it the way I choose and don't allow another person's version of ''reality'' to dictate mine. I don't think that is idolizing anything. I am well aware that humankind has been in a struggle for quite some time both before and after the Industrial Revolution. I am really interested in looking beyond this moment to one of greater connectedness and compassion. Mainstream culture is not there yet, but it is what motivates me and is the arrow I am and to where I point. Generally, I look back to all kinds of paintings from around the globe for inspiration and insight.
You say it's not popular now. But in a way, it preempts the issues we are having now in the era of the Anthropocene and the notion that humankind is separate from nature.
Yes, I would say my paintings are all about making that connection with nature.
Yet you decide to live in New York, one of the biggest metropolises in the world?
Yeah, I know. It's kind of ironic. I mean, it’s the most ironic part of my life.
How often do you manage to escape the city?
Well, I was just in Italy with a wonderful painter from Frankfurt recently with whom I have a lot in common and I get out of the city as often as possible to visit friends and paint.