About the Artist
Jason Webb is a painter based in Austin, TX who depicts trash piles and abandoned buildings in meticulous washes of acrylic paint. Capturing photographic reference locally is an important component of his realist painting process. Jason was born in Round Rock, TX, 1985. He studied computer animation and painting at Jacksonville University in Florida. After graduation he returned to Austin and his artistic practice shifted exclusively to acrylic painting. Jason exhibits and is a loyal participant in Big Medium's studio tours since 2009. He frequently contributes artwork to annual fundraising events benefiting local institutions, is a three time Hunting Art Prize finalist, and winner of the 2012 Eye's Got it! competition; which awarded a solo exhibition at grayDUCK gallery.
Artist Statement
‘Discard Piles’ is an ongoing series of paintings which depict bulky trash set out for city collection and disposal. I spend a few hours each week driving the residential streets of Austin searching for and photographing the crème de la crème of trash piles. They are captured exactly as found, without alteration to their arrangement on my part. Back in the studio, piles are studiously painted with water-thinned acrylics, devoid of context against white backgrounds. As my primary subject for the past nine years, these piles still hold open a space I find worthy of contemplation: The unknown stories of other people’s lives; the power and seeming necessity of purging; the environmental impact of disposable culture; the uncanny beauty of dereliction... For me, this series evokes a complicated and ever evolving blend of overlapping and sometimes contradictory thoughts and emotions.