JJ Pagani

My paintings tear apart the frivolity of eighteenth-century French painting using
abstraction. I deconstruct classical compositions and mythological scenes, stripping away
decorative excess to reveal raw material tension.

Figures collapse into landscapes through sensuous handling of material: sweeping
brushwork, scraped layers, and dense surfaces. Material seriousness is offset by absurd
color and embedding emojis into the paint layers, incorporating a tangible acidity into the
process.

These paintings happen in a single period of intense attention that could last days or a
week. Once the paint dries, I leave the canvas untouched; the work either succeeds in that
moment or it fails. This process offers an unrepeatable record of thought, time and energy
invested, capturing that immediate spark of creation.