Smalls 
 Mark Westervelt
 

January 7 - February 26, 2022

Main Gallery

artist statement

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My work alludes to an underlying current of knowing that is governed by feelings and emotions.  The images that I produce are symbolic of an inner-personal and vulnerable human existence.  They develop their identity through spontaneity, intuition, association, and chance.

 

 

In making art, I am only aware of the forces I use in order to move along the course of my pictures.  The course of my art is a visual translation of internal feelings, thoughts, and emotions in relation to the inner condition of self.

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process

 

The  work involves a variety of materials and processes.  The materials used include: paper, paint, inks, marker, pencil, glue and dried paint chips and paint skins.  My work involves aspects of painting, drawing, collage and assemblage.

 

The idea of using dried paint chips came about as a byproduct of the process that I go through when painting on canvas.  When working on canvas, I paint and scrape off the paint a number of times to achieve a surface appropriate for the painting.  During this process, a lot of paint falls to the floor and dries.

 

 

Through this process, I realized the random beauty that lives within the surfaces of the dried paint and decided it was still very much useful. I started re-applying the dry paint chips to my canvases at first, but then discovered the possibilities of scaling down the size of the current work to 5×7 inches on paper.  I use the paint chip in its natural form as well as manipulate it to a desired form. I also fabricate acrylic paint skins and then manipulate them into final abstract figures on paper and wood panels.  Approaching my work the way that I do, I am able to fulfill a desire to collage, assemble and sculpt without straying from my original discipline of painting.