Vincent Cordelle

Visual Art – San Diego

Exposure to fine art at a young age has had a huge influence on who I am today. My parents collected paintings throughout my childhood, which gave me the opportunity to visit galleries and studios. One artist that I grew up around was Hugo Crosthwaite and his war series. His dramatic high contrast black and white compositions are reflected in my work today. I was studying to become an architect when I first started drawing. I took my first college drawing course in 2012 and things snapped quickly. I felt comfortable in the art department and soon changed my major. My style of painting started off very abstract with a lot of color and different mediums. I was essentially pilling on pigment to achieve the tone and contrast that was needed. I was not using any sort of academic style of painting. This was an important time because I became comfortable with different mediums that I still use today which now I have used more methodically to achieve more depth and texture. I started off using acrylic because I needed my paint to dry quickly. I would then use putty knives, charcoal and spray paint to sculpt my image. I painted in this manner for about two years until I picked up oil paint. At the same time I embraced oils, as I was also studying art history and became interested in the classical compositions of work from primarily the Baroque period. The work I have been doing for the past year has been primarily focused on abstracted faces and figures. My expressive acrylic and spray paint under-paintings are still visible under the oil paint which gives them these marble-like appearance. I consistently keep my canvas wet with paint thinner to blur my lines similarly to an out of focus photo. This method also creates beautiful textures and layers that add depth to a painting that is only accentuated through black and white. I studied bronze for five semesters while simultaneously studying figure painting so my bronzes and my paintings have a similar figurative theme. My sculpture reflects my interest in architecture, where I combine the human figure with steel and pencil rod structures. My influence in sculpture comes from artist Manuel Neri, as well as Cecilia Miguez.