One of the greatest influences on my art is having grown up
in San Francisco during the 1960's and 70's. At that time the city bustled with creative
energy from peoples of many races and ethnicities, social activists, artists, musicians,
gays, hippies, and the working class. My family lived a few blocks from the city's
geographical center, and our neighborhood became an intersection for forces of social and
cultural experimentation. As a young child I wandered this landscape - at play in a world
of possibility.
I am most interested in how our world refuses easy categorization. I love mystery: the
contradictions and odd coincidences where the definitive rests on shaky ground. Through
painting and collage I search for visions of association and disconnection. |
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I paint fifty to sixty images simultaneously, working quickly
on small pieces of paper. My subjects vary significantly, including cartoon-like people,
flying imaginary creatures, animated architecture, austere landscapes, elements from
nature such as tree branches and rocks.
After amassing several hundreds of these paintings, I assemble them onto one panel,
arranging them in a grid and in three dimensional layers. Stacking pieces increases the
overall physical and psychological density. Each assemblage becomes a field of ideas,
symbols and references - a kind of playground for the imagination.
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Amit May Fine Arts