As a self-taught artist... I search for universal themes which evoke specific emotions from the viewer... I am interested mainly in sexuality and mortality in my narratives. I look for the souls of individuals in my work, and try to represent them on the canvas. I paint drunks, fairy godmothers, prostitutes and invented scenarios which are drawn from observing everyday life. I paint in color and black and white. I draw greatly from mysticism, religion, pornography, anthropology, philosophy, psychology and I am influenced greatly by German expressionism, pop art and Deco. I enjoy using symbols to evoke emotions in my work. I believe in Jungian collective unconscious and try to infuse my work with symbols that the viewer can relate in a variety of ways to understand the story that I am trying to illustrate. I believe that I am a "modern day shaman" whose main responsibility is to become a vehicle for an energy greater than myself. I sometimes feel like an "idiot savant", and paint intuitively rather than strategically. I research images, do preliminary prototypes and agonize over composition and color, but once the brush is in my hand, all prior planning may go by the wayside. Painting allows me to exorcise personal demons and search for "who I am". If there is one thing I have learned since starting this artistic journey, it is that I feel: "we all die confused".
Cronborg's Art Studio and Workshop