BRUTAList/2023-2024 (Full Images)

A profound thing happens when an act of aggression is performed with intent and purpose. These works are quite literally attacked by myself and a various array of tools, materials and by nature itself. Allowing the work to be “destroyed” exhibits elements of vigilance, resistance, resiliency and beauty. I find balance and peace in my process and what emerges tends to be the relic of those actions, care and intent. This is a collection of work exploring that violent nature of painting. Pierce, lacerate, layer and assemblage on the two-dimensional support to figure the void as a space of liberating potentiality. Experimenting vigorously, venturing into methods that seem against the medium and process of painting. The most noteworthy of which are the violent actions and physicality forced onto the surface as I seek to transcend the two-dimensional plane of the canvas.

Creativity can take on many roles, while often it fulfills the craving for aesthetic desires it can also demand change. Auto-Destructive Art seeks to remind people of the horrors which they are perpetuating and is a warning to reverse course. From the embers of destruction the medium emerges reborn, a complex power referencing the experience of living in a world perched on the brink of self-annihilation. The physical expression of these works is the manifestation of my emotional state when pondering the juxtaposition of positive innovation and perpetual regression of mankind.

As we see this regression we reveal beauty and disgust, victor and victim. The victor vs. the victim presents itself in many ways, optimist vs. pessimist, strength vs. weakness, truth vs. lie, the list goes on. But for me the victim vs. victor introduces a frame of mind, a perception of circumstance. This body of work presents the paradigm of duality. Which elements of the work have fallen victim to the failure of process, material or success? Which have claimed victory through perseverance and resiliency to overcome the violent efforts to make them crumble or fail? Regardless of how much abuse, error, thought and care from myself, the work remains in the space between resolution and reflection. It exposes questions in society that we all know too well but not well enough.

My hope is that this body of work expresses the will to succeed amongst trying circumstances that we commonly find ourselves in daily. The confusion of modern society weighs heavy, but we shall not fall victim to it. Belief in oneself and your own truth, honesty, love and strength will always result in victory. No matter the battle there will always be a Victor and victim, be the Victor that lies in all of us.

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