I like to work in series. I find an idea, explore it from many vantage points, and only move on after exhausting the possibilities. The subject matter can vary and the execution can veer from realism to a more abstract interpretation of an idea.

One of my main subjects is water. Lifeguarding and teaching swimming were the only jobs that I had in high school and college. I worked at apartment pools, municipal pools and subdivision pools. The hours that I spent in the lifeguard stand staring at the water seemed like a waste of time. But all of that “studying” of water under different light and movement conditions gave me my life-long fascination with water.

Water is mysterious and ethereal, yet it has an edge. You can enjoy it for recreational purposes, but you can drown in it also. Swim in it and you are weightless, floating free of gravity. Be pulled under by a current, and you are done for. It whispers like a lover “come close” but says “keep your distance.” It is never truly knowable.

I use figurative boats to activate abstract patterns in water. I find the narrow line between the recognition of an image and its dissolution into pure elements of form and color visually exciting. It is fun to play with an image that is first seen as an abstraction and then, upon further observation, is decoded as a recognizable object, i.e. a corner of a boat, a logo from a sail, or a wave of water. Add to that the transitory effects of light and movement on water and the interaction of color with the subtle shifts that occur when colors sit next to each other.

My practice involves a variety of media including painting, printmaking, drawing and video.

Lynn Manos
2024