Spotlight Artist

John Burt Sanders

Northeast
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Featured in New American Paintings

Artist Statement

Systems of order foster a stable understanding of the world by constructing an organized view of our reality. Yet, this categorical thinking is incomplete: omitting that which cannot be categorized, it fails to account for the abundance that accumulates everywhere. My work questions the necessity of such systems and turns toward what is ignored. The hope is that this work points toward emerging connections while also lending itself to a consideration of the endless overlapping quality of our understanding.

In my recent paintings, impasto linework lies heavily across the bare canvas, generating a stark contrast between formless paint and woven support. These curvilinear painted forms are derived from 2D mazes, like those found on the back of cereal boxes. This solution line is often merged with a quartering of the support in the shape of an x or +. Each composition starts to suggest other imagery like maps of unknown locations or partial bits of illegible text, all the while painted in colors that are near in value and hue to the canvas, making it a challenge to discern the entire composition at once. All together, the effect is of a hovering recognition where each painting is never reconciled into a singular image but, instead, is endless in association and always in excess of itself.

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