Basketball Court #2
Wayne Jiang

"In the hours of night the outside world is cast with an unusual allure, evoking sensations that cease to exist with luminous sunlight. Familiar surroundings become less defined and opened to ambiguous impressions of solitude, comfort and the curiosity of the unknown.

"It is the nocturnal ambiance that inspires my current series of night paintings. Focusing primarily on external representations of urban environments, my compositions combine the contrasting notions of comfort and anxiety, while jointly touching on the universal, yet common American theme of solitude. The calm of darkness inspires feelings of comfort and mental clarity that is uninterrupted by the bustle of daytime activity. Contrarily and perhaps simultaneously, anxiety stems from the invisibility of nightfall, the mystery and consternation posed by the incognizance of what lurks amid the dimming backdrop. In lieu of dictating unmistakable likenesses, I choose to convey an overall emotion that is implicit in nature and never truly defined."