Artist Statement
Informed by a late Modern interpretation of abstraction, my current practice typically moves between painterly and post-painterly interpretations of cultural history and biomorphic forms. The age and patina of old walls, scraps of manuscripts, natural forms, etc. provide sources for the textures and compositions I use in my work. Whatever the source, I attempt to balance the pre-planned with the immediacy of the painting process itself, so that the images created are able to convey universal themes, as well as to allow for variations in interpretation.
Much of my current work is predicated on a tacit acknowledgment that in the current context, landscape/the organic does not exist separately from the artifacts and vestiges of cultural history. To garden, for instance, is most often to make decisions about what to cultivate and what to leave out within a structure - what ‘belongs’ and what does not. Added to this in our time are all the remnants and consequences of the built environment which surround us, and which affect us in everything from the climate crisis to pollutants to urban sprawl. At present, my work often comes out of a consideration of these inter-related factors that are part of contemporary life.
- Michael Black
About the Artist
Michael graduated from the Ontario College of Art (now OCADU), in 1984 and holds a Doctorate in Education from the University of Toronto (2003). For 30 years, he worked in education. Michael has shown his work in Toronto, Charlottetown, Port Perry, Creemore, Thornhill, Port Hope, Cobourg, Ottawa, Peterborough, Thornbury, Meaford and Sutton West. His work is held in many collections.
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