June Stratton, 1959 | Figurative painter

June Stratton was born in Honolulu Hawaii and studied at the College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, CA. Stratton began her art career in Pioneer Square, the art district of Seattle, where she was the administrative director of a successful gallery and atelier. Stratton now lives in both Atlanta and Savannah.

Stratton combines photorealism and reductive tonalism to create quiet meditative paintings with a strong sense of color and composition.

Describing her work as "realism that captures fleeting moments that have to do with light", Stratton isolates aspects of a place; then with sensitivity to form and composition she creates meditative spaces through the suspension of moments.

Her work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally in galleries and Museums such as the Whatcom Museum of History and Art in Washington.

Stratton has been published in American Artist and her work is owned by many private and public collections such as The Federal Reserve of Minneapolis, The U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., and Texaco Incorporated of New York, NY.

Artist statement

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My current paintings have been described as kinetic portraits. Although often figurative, they are not portraits in the traditional sense; I am trying to capture an essence of movement that uniquely defines a subject. I admire painters such as Gerhard Richter and Francis Bacon for their immensely skillful figurative representations.

I am also, inspired by the narrative, lighting and compositional examples in the films of directors such as David Lynch and Sam Mendes.

To begin my paintings, I take hundreds of photographs in one sitting and spend hours carefully selecting three or four images.

These selections become a template from which I start the creative technique on canvas, where the image evolves.

The painting stages are where the composition is pushed for dramatic effect and the desired level of chiaroscuro, with layers of luminous color, is realized.

This is best achieved in oil paint. It is the painting process that I enjoy the most and I feel gives the subjects in my paintings their soul.

As in film noir, I illuminate shadowy figures in mysterious environments to embody a sensual and arcane spirit. Viewing the art should be an ongoing, progressive experience where elements of my painting are not immediately apparent at first glance.