SHOW STATEMENT:

Standing Still in Motion is a modern impressionist’s love letter to the people, land, and animals that populate oil painter Cory Rain’s explorations. From the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula to Canadian coastal waters, a distilled sense of humanity and authenticity is put to canvas through a mosaic-like economy of mark making. Thickly loaded brush strokes feature stories large and small in this, his first solo exhibition.

ARTIST STATEMENT:

Storytelling is at the heart of my work. Themes of cultural exchange, pride of person, and the biases we carry, shape the narratives I explore. I believe the power of art lies in the personal journey it offers, allowing the viewer to find something of themselves in the work, shaped by their own experiences.

My smaller pieces focus on symbolic universal themes. These frame-by-frame oil paintings build animations that challenge the static nature of traditional oil painting, presenting the medium as something alive, dynamic and ever-evolving. On a technical level, I aim to convey the most with the least. An economy of brushwork, mosaic-like style celebrates gaps between brushstrokes to let the underpainting’s color shine through. Thick paint, applied seemingly carefree, is deliberate and full of intention. Up close, the brushwork appears abstract but from a distance, it resolves into a coherent, high-fidelity image, balancing abstraction and representation.