John Harper is a self-taught artist living and working in New Haven, Connecticut. John embarked on his early artistic training while obtaining his MD-PhD from Yale. Following Yale, John enjoyed a multiyear medical career, first as a primary care Pediatrician and then as a Medical Director in the healthcare industry. During those years, John was only able to intermittently satisfy his desire for artistic creativity. However, after stepping away from medical management in 2019, John has devoted his focus and passion to the creation of visual images that are inventive, complex, and powerful.
John was born and raised in South Texas and graduated from the University of Texas before moving to the Northeast for his post-graduate and medical education. He has been lucky enough to stay in New Haven during both his medical and artistic careers. John has two children and two grandchildren and lives with his wife and their Portuguese Water Dog.
About:
CREATIVE PROCESS AND ARTISTIC STATEMENT
John’s training in biology and medicine has been a significant force in his fascination with organic shapes. As a result, much of his art mirrors those reference points. Using biologic and anatomic images, as well as creative non-representational shapes, has led John to a fascinating melding of the familiar and unfamiliar. Can shapes and objects from the known physical world transform or mutate into compelling objects arising in an imaginary space? How do organic constructs “react” to the imposition of geometric forms or parameters? John’s art seeks to answer these questions by producing images that are harmonious and intriguing.
Although most of John’s current work is non-representational, his earlier work was much more objective. Some of those early works depicted reality as it appeared to be but others depicted reality that was slightly skewed, off-kilter, or unpredictable. This orientation and experimentation was an instrumental influence in his shift toward non-representational work. Even now, more identifiable objective images may appear within a non-representational piece giving rise to the unexpected and interesting juxtapositions.
“My artistic exploration is constantly moving forward as I investigate new horizons and points of view. My background in the sciences as well as wide-ranging tastes in music and literature have helped me create a broad range of visual images. Objective and non-objective ideas find equal expression during some time periods, or one genre may predominate for a bit only to later move into the background. I continue to reconcile my desire for order and structure (given my years of medical training and patient care) with an equal desire for spontaneity and abstraction. Not knowing which ideas will push forward, which will recede, and which can be translated onto an interesting picture plane is what keeps my work challenging and fresh.”