ABOUT
As a native of Rhode Island (known as the "Ocean State") the vastness of the sea has always been a prominent source of inspiration. Other influences include Euclidian geometry, architectural drawings, and traditional quilting. I am interested in the contrast of illusionistic space simultaneously existing with flatness. The imagery is open to multiple interpretations; forms can describe a sky, a diagram, a syncopated beat, a pathway or a horizon.
My paintings harness the ever-present current of flux and transience, which for me is at the core of the human experience. I use tone and line to explore oppositional forces: two dimensional pattern with spatial depth, fast and slow, density with transparency, rooted with reaching, structure with gesture. The tension created by these varying elements existing together on the picture plane give my paintings a magnetic strength.
EDUCATION
1999 - 2001
1994 - 1996
1987 - 1992
Parsons School of Design
Master of Fine Arts, Painting
Massachusetts College of Art
M.S.A.E.
Rhode Island School of Design
Bachelor of Fine Arts
BOOKS
Color Lab for Mixed- Media Artists
January, 2015.
Quarry Publishers
PROCESS
Process is paramount in my work. As a child, my favorite aspect of painting was squeezing out the raw, pigmented paint from the tube and anticipating the creative journeys that lay therein. To this day I still get a visual and tactile thrill out of the coolness of prussian blue, the zing of cadmium reds, and the earthiness of yellow ochre on my palette. I experience a visceral pleasure in the beauty and potential of these initial puddles of chroma.
I often work with a limited palette of three to four colors in each piece letting the work unfurl organically as I begin painting. I mix layered tones, playing upon variations of hue, value and intensity to create rhythmic movement. Through complex problem solving and trial and error, the colors eventually unfold and reveal how they wish to be structured. Through the experience of looking, I hope for meaning and emotion to unfold for the viewer.
HOVER!
Exhibitions
2022 Two person show. Chocolate Church Gallery, Bath, Maine.
2022 M. Patmos, Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, NY.
2020 Candita Clayton Gallery showing at Hamptons Virtual Art Fair
2020 Solo Show "Many Ways to Build", Candita Clayton Gallery virtual show, Artsy
2020 M.Patmos SS2020 collection collaboration, Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, NY
2020 Shaffzin Visiting Artist, Collegiate School, New York, NY
2019 M.Patmos, Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, NY
2018 New York Studio School, Pop up summer works show, New York, NY
2018 Setra Artes, Group show, Stonington, CT
2017 AS220, Two person show, Providence, RI
2015-17 Summer Faculty Show, Woods Gerry, RISD. Providence, RI
2008-Present RISD Alumni Art Fair
2006 Art in Bloom Auction, Roger Williams Botanical Garden, Prov., RI
2005 Space at Alice, group show, Providence, RI
2004 Wheeler Gallery,'works on paper' -group show, Providence, RI
2004 The Space at Alice, group show, Providence, RI
2004 CCRI gallery, solo show, paintings, Warwick, RI
2001 National Arts Club, Student Exhibition, New York, NY
2001 Aronson Galleries/Parsons Galleries, MFA group show, New York, NY
2000 New American Painting, web site: MFA edition
2000 Hunter College Gallery, juried CAA, Hunter gallery, MFA show, New York, NY
1999 Full Circle Gallery, group show, Providence, RI
1998 Nikolas Karras Gallery, group show, Providence, RI
1996 Sarah Doyle Gallery, group show, Providence, RI
1995 Bakalar Gallery, group show, Massachusetts College of Art- Boston, MA
1994 Arnheim Gallery, group show, Massachusetts College of Art- Boston, MA
1992 The Hakone Museum, video installation: " Rhythm Wheel", Hakone, Japan
1991 Woods Gerry Gallery, group show, Providence, RI
Represented by:
Candita Clayton Gallery
Hope Artist Village
999 Main Street
Unit 105
Pawtucket
RI 02860
401 533 8825
canditaclaytongallery.com
Sojourn LLC
12908 Red Arrow Hwy
Sawyer
MI 49125
269 426 4247
sojournastore.com