Serge Lecomte

Carnival#

Guilty#

Artist’s Statement#

Titles on my paintings mean something beyond the word itself. I dig into the origin of the word itself, not just the present meaning. Let’s start with “carnival.” Everyone knows what it is. But the word derives from “carne.” The time through Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) when eating meat was allowed until Ash Wednesday (the beginning of Lent). As you can see in the picture the creatures are all eating or eyeing meat. The composition is never really composed. (After all, what is Beethoven doing now? Decomposing.) I go from image to image and wonder what is next. Colors follow after some thought. I like bright colors and the fauvist movement. Guilt is always arbitrary and seen though the eye of the beholder. Systems (political, social) change and the laws change. Innocent one day, guilty the next. You follow. In my pic the crows are part of the judging process. The fish are guilty for being fish, strip of their meat before sentence has even been passed. Here the composition was a little more thought out. Two fish appear to be kissing and in love. Maybe kissing was illegal. Who knows? What does the viewer see? What is his or her interpretation? Ever think of the meaning of “chicken cacciatore?” Coming to my next canvas.

About the Artist#

Serge Lecomte earned a Master’s and a Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University in Russian literature with a minor in French literature. He then worked as a Green Beret language instructor at Fort Bragg, North Carolina from 1975 to 1978. In 1988, he received a Bachelor’s from the University of Alaska in Spanish literature and worked as a language teacher at the University of Alaska until 1997. He has also worked as a house builder, pipe fitter, hospital orderly, gardener, landscaper, assay driller, bartender, and painter.