Mark Westervelt
Three Years Later
October 3 - January 30, 2026
Opie Gallery
My work alludes to an underlying current of knowing that is governed by feelings and emotions. The images that I produce are symbolic of an inner-personal and vulnerable human existence. They develop their identity through spontaneity, intuition, association, and chance.
In making art, I am only aware of the forces I use in order to move along the course of my pictures. The course of my art is a visual translation of internal feelings, thoughts, and emotions in relation to the inner condition of self.
PROCESS
The work involves a variety of materials and processes. The materials used include paper, paint, inks, marker, pencil, glue, dried paint chips, and paint skins. My work involves aspects of painting, drawing, collage, and assemblage.
The idea of using dried paint chips came about as a byproduct of the process that I go through when painting on canvas. When working on canvas, I paint and scrape off the paint a number of times to achieve a surface appropriate for the painting. During this process, a lot of paint falls to the floor and dries.
Through this process, I realized the random beauty that lives within the surfaces of the dried paint and decided it was still very much useful. I started re-applying the dry paint chips to my canvases at first, but then discovered the possibilities of scaling down the size of the current work to 5×7 inches on paper. I use the paint chip in its natural form as well as manipulate it to the desired form. I also fabricate acrylic paint skins and then manipulate them into final abstract figures on paper and wood panels. Approaching my work the way that I do, I am able to fulfill a desire to collage, assemble and sculpt without straying from my original discipline of painting.
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