b'Ezra THOMPSONAdjunct LecturerThe Couch, 2023; Oil on canvas; 36 x 36My recent paintings have been concerned with the theater of memory. In revisiting memory and the past through the photograph, I am attempting to re-learn the use of signs to understand and communicate reality. Beginning with the snapshot, I select everyday experiences of life that appear to be instantly unfolding. The initial awkwardness of the subject is only secondary to my larger concernthe experience of loss and exclusion: loss of loved ones, loss of affection, friendship and innocent joy. In creating this body of work, there is an attempt to recapture that loss and thus save it from destruction. It is only through this re-visitation of the photograph in adulthood that one hopes to \x1fll in or at least pick up the pieces. The painting thus becomes a true remembrance of things past.25'