Artist Statement:
As a young artist growing up in the Rocky Mountains of Western Montana, I began, as many young artists do, drawing and painting the natural world around me. I soon realized, however, that focusing only on the beauty of a scene in nature - be it a sunset over the mountains, or a wild river winding through a valley for instance - doesn't begin to tell the whole story of a place. Instead of holding up simply the beauty one finds in Nature, I try to retain elements of the impure, the polluted, the ugliness of human impact. Materials common to industry and construction: tar, joint compound, wood glue, cement, wood stain, resin, metal foils, etc., become symbols of the ugly underbelly of an otherwise pristine natural landscape. Beyond material choice, each piece becomes an expression of evolution and fragility. Fragility often in a moment of powerful change. Be it a fracture in a smooth plain or a wisp of ash below a sky of heavy tar, my hope is that the viewer will have an emotional, aesthetic response to my paintings, while considering the dialogue created between material choice and subject matter. This combining of different materials, concealing and revealing layers, burning and fixing throughout each piece, gives each painting a body and a sense of history, much like the moments in nature they represent.
Education:
BFA in Painting/Drawing - University of Montana Davidson Honors College - Missoula, MT 2013
Minor in Art History/Criticism - University of Montana Davidson Honors College - Missoula, MT 2013
Awards & Distinctions:
President's Award for Painting, University of Montana 2013
People's Choice Award, "Young Guns" Dana Gallery 2014
Exhibitions:
2017 Horizon: Contemporary Landscape, Community Arts Center Danville, KY
Emerging, Submerging, Dana Gallery Missoula, MT
White Apple Gallery Grand Opening, Whitefish, MT
Missoula Art Museum 45th Auction Missoula Art Museum, Missoula, MT
2016 Young and the Restless, Dana Gallery Missoula, MT
2014 Young Guns, Dana Gallery Missoula, MT
2013 Young Guns, Dana Gallery Missoula, MT
Missoula Art Museum 41th Auction Missoula Art Museum, Missoula, MT
BFA Senior Thesis Exhibition, University of Montana Missoula, MT
2012 Young Guns, Dana Gallery Missoula, MT
Abstraction in the Landscape, Introducing Clay Pape, Dana Gallery Missoula, MT
Missoula Art Museum 40th Auction Missoula Art Museum, Missoula, MT
2011 64 Arts: 2011 National Juried Exhibition, Buchanan Center for the Arts Monmouth, IL
War: Enduring, Questioning, Escaping, University of Montana Missoula, MT
2010 Introducing Clay Pape: Works In Pastel the Artists’ Shop Missoula, MT
Artistic Influences:
I have always loved expressionism, from early 20th century German Expressionism, to the Abstract Expressionist masters, to Neo-Expressionism and later artists like Anselm Kiefer. I especially like Kiefer"s approach to materials.
Artist Tags:
landscape, abstract, contemporary, modern, mixed-media, seascape
