“Red Okra and Pie,” oil on canvas, 30 x 40 in. —Max Decker
Max Decker paints a simple yet beautiful scene of home and family.
Artist Max Decker tends to focus on scenes of everyday life — quiet domestic snapshots of his wife and kids engaging in simple acts, like reading or washing dishes. His paintings are less concerned with the action, or with the figures themselves, but rather are testaments to quiet country living.
“I’m interested in those moments that happen every day that you don’t really stop to take in and appreciate how beautiful they are,” says Decker, who was born and raised on the Vineyard. After spending time living in Brooklyn, where he pursued music and fashion design, Decker moved back to the Island in 2016 to focus on capturing scenes from his much-simpler rural existence.
In a painting titled “Red Okra and Pie,” Decker has captured a view of family life. As well as the titular items, a simple wooden table holds a mug, a vase of zinnias (grown by the artist’s wife in their backyard garden), and two candles. The latter were salvaged from the wreck of the boat The City of Columbus by a previous owner of Decker’s 19th-century farmhouse.
Seated at the table, only partially visible, is a woman taking an afternoon break, relaxing over a cup of coffee.
“The narrative is almost secondary,” says Decker. “I respond mostly to the shapes and the colors and the composition. That’s really what gives me that visceral impression that I want to capture.”
The figures in the scenes are always partially hidden, often in the shadows.
“They’re distinctly not portraits,” says the artist. “It adds a little mystery to the scene. It’s not so directly about the person. It’s more about the environment.”
Decker paints from photographs which he snaps randomly throughout his day, anytime he sees something that inspires him.
“The three technical considerations that assist me in deciding what to paint are color, value (contrast), and level of detail,” says Decker. “That makes the process sound robotic, but this mental checklist isn’t really employed until I find myself drawn to a certain image for more human reasons.”
Decker hasn’t recently done many paintings that aren’t within 100 feet of his Aquinnah home, the surroundings of which sometimes make him feel he’s “living in a Wyeth painting.”
“The battle to keep the house together is ongoing,” he adds. However, with the light from the Aquinnah Lighthouse shining in the couple’s bedroom at night and their kids enjoying simple games (often depicted in the paintings), Decker seems to be enjoying a pretty idyllic life — one he has chosen to share through his work.