Nick Brown

Region: Pacific Coast

My large-scale oil paintings reflect a state of impermanence. Thinly painted passages thicken to form areas over an inch thick. Key elements are defined in negative space, suggesting instability. These strategies combine to create an experience of simultaneous beginnings and endings without ever resolving in form.

In an ongoing series called Ice House, I paint the remnants of a high-mountain community just outside Los Angeles. Stone chimneys act as markers decaying in snow-trapped forests. The chimneys are evidence of man’s determination to establish himself, but also of the transience inherent in all endeavors of civilization.