Michael Banning’s new paintings of window views and garden walls represent a departure from his recent work that focused on faithfully depicting the interior spaces of his home. Although some of these small paintings are loosely based on windows within the artist’s house, the spaces outside the windows are derived from his travels in the United States and Europe. These constructed images represent both the solace of home and the longing for another place and time. In each of the paintings, doors and windows reveal glimpses of the natural world just outside. The views are partial, framed and fragmented by the structures that surround them, serving as metaphors for both the archetypal garden and the forest of the unconscious.

Image: Michael Banning, Window with Cedar Tree, Oil on linen over panel, 10 x 10”