Absolute: Graft
b. 1982, USA. interdisciplinary artist; Exhibited in John F. Peto Museum, NJ, Edward Hopper House Museum, NY, Center Of Science & Industry Museum, OH, and George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles & Chelsea, NY. MFA, University of Cincinnati. BFA, Columbus College of Art & Design.
The Absolutes suite of paintings started as an exploration into the lost genesis of western pictorial language and its historical parallels in other disciplines like philosophy and cross-cultural linguistics. Since then, it has grown into a full language where stories are told through pictorial vignettes. Like any pictorial language, an impactful visual story needs to be edited down to the fewest elements necessary to tell an effective story. This minimalist storytelling ensures that the subject matter in focus will be full of symbolism; often blending the line between artifact and narrative display.
Each element in Absolute: Graft has a solid rooting into a human situation, as if it were a timeless expression of personal moments. A set of flush white flowers are bound discretely to the left most branch. The dead wood and its shadows play an asymmetrical dance which hovers over a set of rectilinear shapes. Light blue, with hues of teal and green, this interplay of shapes and translucency finds a subtle tension between each of the painting’s elements.
Throughout this artwork, there’s a an ongoing exploration into the human experience and how might this journey be symbolized through natural and man-made objects. The distillation of concepts into new expressions are a common evolution of any developing language and I continue to embrace these transitions as the Absolute series grows.
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