Artist Statement 2011
Inspired by drawing and writing on beaches and watching the impressions wash away, one day I decided to gather the sand and use it as the “ink” on my paintings. Over the years, I have collected natural and synthetic colored sands from around the world, incorporating this substance both under and over my painted, layered abstractions. In my current body of work I've begun to revisit previous mixed-media applications and have added materials such as beach debris and red dirt to my paintings.
Living on the island of Kauai, I am impressed by the variety of color, shape, and size of both the grains of sand and colored plastic waste that wash onto her different shores. The ocean works hard to break down this matter creating fascinating results. In my exploration of different types of natural and unnatural materials in my artwork, I have recognized sand to be the most profound symbol of the essence of decomposition - matter in the process of transforming.
Exploring material through process, I create spontaneous, meditative, calligraphic expressions. These pictures reference abstract sculptural tablets or suggest micro/macro biomorphic/galactic collisions, webs, circuitries, waves, the inner and outer landscape, and sometimes... the inexpressible.
Mark Van Wagner
Inspired by drawing and writing on beaches and watching the impressions wash away, one day I decided to gather the sand and use it as the “ink” on my paintings. Over the years, I have collected natural and synthetic colored sands from around the world, incorporating this substance both under and over my painted, layered abstractions. In my current body of work I've begun to revisit previous mixed-media applications and have added materials such as beach debris and red dirt to my paintings.
Living on the island of Kauai, I am impressed by the variety of color, shape, and size of both the grains of sand and colored plastic waste that wash onto her different shores. The ocean works hard to break down this matter creating fascinating results. In my exploration of different types of natural and unnatural materials in my artwork, I have recognized sand to be the most profound symbol of the essence of decomposition - matter in the process of transforming.
Exploring material through process, I create spontaneous, meditative, calligraphic expressions. These pictures reference abstract sculptural tablets or suggest micro/macro biomorphic/galactic collisions, webs, circuitries, waves, the inner and outer landscape, and sometimes... the inexpressible.
Mark Van Wagner
