Jeff Schwarz
Gallery Affiliations: Outlet, Cindy Lisica Gallery
Region: Northeast
My work is inspired by culturally significant tile mosaic, graffiti,
bathroom wall drawings, historical pottery, and the qualities of
the urban and rural places I have lived. The goal is a synthesized
abstraction of these influences that allows intuition and invention
to creep in. I live in an urban environment, and I am a product of
that backdrop. The changes in my work are a direct result of my
evolving physical spaces. The continuous scrawls of text/imagery
that blanket the city’s veneer influence the surface treatment of
my work. As each new message is created, the newest dialogue
dilutes the older one. I approach the surfaces and the construction
of my pieces intentionally; they are as direct as the city’s surface.
The difficulty is finding a balance between the now of my place
and the memory of my past.