In Detail

Sunday, Volunteer Park, oil on panel, 24 x 48. Sold.

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Wading Pool, oil on panel, 36 x 48. Sold.

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Seattle, International District, oil on panel, 18 x 18. Sold.

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Great North Tunnel, oil on panel, 18 x 18. Sold

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Stasinos on detail

I don’t pursue detail simply for the sake of detail; rather it serves several deeper aesthetic purposes. It is a way to help a painting be interesting from any viewing distance. The Dutch Fijnschilders (literally “fine painters”) of the 17th century, like Gerard Dou or Gabriel Metsu, pursued realism with meticulous detail. What is not observed in the viewer's initial contemplation comes to life as the viewer gets closer and discovers an inner world. I am awestruck by painters like these, whose work allows viewers to have a layered visual experience.

Detail not only builds narrative, but can document time and place better than most historians or anthropologists could hope. When I return to a location day after day, week after week, I begin to discover the personality of a place. Like a fine portrait, the details of the environment can reveal clues to the narrative and culture of the subject. I like to think of myself as a visual archeologist, digging up visual clues in the minutia of detail and debris that I find at my locations.

Capturing a moment of time through detailed observation and meditation is my goal."