"I have focused on the figure all my creative life. With its origins rooted in ancient and primitive art, this tradition continues to impact my work. The body, central to this tradition makes unique forms and spaces -- not grand but very powerful. This uniqueness and emotional power allows for a formal structure ideally suited to interpretation and improvisation. I hope to direct one's attention to my personal vision of these elements.
Portraits, whether as social document, problem of form and composition, psychological mystery or wrestling match with mortality, continues to affect my art. I find portraits mysterious yet known and compositionally challenging. The play of rectangle over rectangle or squares, spaces and forms made unique by the body, the emotional impact of a lived person complete, a wonderfully complex structure for creating new forms and finding one's own figure."
-- Laurence Kaufman
