Andrew Lyman

River Guard

2020

Andrew Lyman remains committed to realism, though his style elicits some sort of mysterious dreamscape quality that is hard to put your finger on. It's the sort of distinctive quality that marks the works of significant emerging artists. Lyman’s statement about his work in general, “My paintings draw from movies and photographs to create images that appear cinematic in structure, but lack the illusion of decisiveness intrinsic to that medium. Leading lines fracture the picture plane, encouraging the eye to wander through narratives that are never quite conclusive. These are not climactic moments or characters of action. They, like us, are prone to looking around—often at one another; a little bewildered, somewhat remote. Certain figures and objects are rendered in detail, while others might be reduced to a flattened silhouette, or are dripping away, or else are only suggested by a rogue protruding limb. All that goes unsaid evokes a sense of unease that is distinct from our time.”