Brady Loughry

Artist Statement:

I often run through the city I live in, and it passes me in a blur. Certain details interrupt that motion: a bent shadow, a shift in color, or an unexpected form. These small details that jump out at me are often where my paintings begin, so I pull out my phone and snap a picture. They are often blurry and crooked, but they are not meant to be perfect, just a small visual journal that captures what I notice. In the studio, I slow down. When painting, I can pick apart that visual information and reflect on the moment. I am interested in how I can convey a city's feel and character through the painting process. Raw canvas gives me a surface that feels honest to these moments. The way the paint skips across the surface echoes the blur of the photo. I am not trying to recreate the city, but highlight the minute details. The shadows, colors, and forms are what I love most. Smaller paintings help me to work quickly as I begin to collect many fragments of the city. These fragments help me to understand not just the place I live in, but how I move through it. They are a way for me to process my own life by slowing the blur and isolating moments that give me a sense of place. Painting becomes a way of paying attention by holding onto these moments and reflecting on them. Through my work, I hope viewers experience the same shift in attention. My paintings invite them to slow down the blur and think about the details they might have overlooked. By representing the city in fragments, they can get a feel of the city as a whole despite only seeing bits and pieces. I want to offer a place for viewers to bring their own experiences and emotions. I want viewers to reflect on their own relationship to the places they move through — the overlooked details, the fragments that shape their sense of home, and the small moments that connect them to their surroundings. These paintings are not just records of where I have been but an invitation to notice the quiet details that make a city feel like home.