Painter · Taos & Madrid
Read Lockhart’s paintings treat the image as a site of inquiry where philosophy, memory, and perception collide. Trained in classical painting but resistant to stylistic orthodoxy, he dismantles and reconstructs images in a process he describes as “making a mess and painting my way out of it.” The resulting works function as thresholds—inviting viewers into unresolved spaces where meaning must be discovered rather than explained.
Selected Works
A fuller record of the work — portraits, studies, and additional paintings spanning two decades.
Available Works
Original works are available by inquiry. Fine art giclée prints are available in multiple sizes, framed or unframed, through a trusted fine art print studio.
About the Artist
Painting, for me, is less a vehicle for self-expression than a field of inquiry — a place where image, memory, and thought collide. I’m not looking for resolution so much as resonance: the kind that unsettles perception and lingers in the mind.
Each work begins with an idea — sometimes from philosophy or literature, sometimes from the strange business of daily life — and slowly becomes a problem that the painting itself must solve.
I resist the pressure toward stylistic consistency. The idea leads, and the medium follows. Some paintings barely resemble others I’ve made, and I take that as a good sign. Oil paint and drawing remain my primary tools, but erasure, revision, and even destruction are part of the process. I cannibalize ideas. I paint over things. Lately I’ve come to think of painting as making a mess and trying to paint my way out of it.
My studio is less a place of control than a negotiation with chaos. I construct and dismantle in equal measure, searching for something that feels inevitable rather than merely decorative. I’m interested in the tension between building space and collapsing it — sculpting form while simultaneously flattening the picture plane.
At its best, a painting becomes a threshold — a place where thought becomes image and the familiar becomes strange again. I don’t try to guide the viewer toward a fixed meaning. I offer a ledge. The work is a conversation — but only if someone’s willing to jump…
Education
Selected Exhibitions
Awards & Collections
Teaching
Get in Touch
For inquiries about original works, prints, commissions, or exhibitions — I'd love to hear from you.