John McCuin, an artist from Oklahoma City, who now resides in Dallas, Texas, works in oils to create realistic paintings.  Though he started in figure and portrait painting, John has become focused on trompe l'oeil.  Inspired by 19th century academic painters, contemporary representational painters, and abstract painters of the past century, John strives to combine the compositional impact of strong nonobjective work with technical virtuosity.  He explores ideas through a visual narrative that uses objects as symbols, while striving to maintain beauty in design.

In spite of life's busiest moments, art has always called me.  Primarily, I love art because I love beauty and challenge.  Even when composing work meant to communicate specific content or emote a given feeling, beauty is of importance to me.  Regarding the technical side of constructing art, there is a dynamic tension between my analytical perfectionism and my desire for expressive release.  I find great satisfaction in the pursuit of improving at painting and visual communication, and I get great joy when people can't believe my work is actually a painting.  If they have a hard time believing their eyes, then I know I've done at least part of my job as a trompe l'oeil painter.

* This statement has been provided directly by the artist in association to their 16^th International ARC Salon entries. This content has not been edited for typos or grammatical errors and has not been vetted for accuracy.