MacEwan, Tracy

I work primarily from two perspectives: one has to do more with abstraction, color and the surface of the painting, while the other tends to be more minimal and suggest an object.My colorful and abstract pieces are generally connected to specific places and thoughts, while in the other work I often use the surface of the painting to suggest that of the earth or of an object—and I find that moving back and forth between these ways of working informs both.In addition, this provides me the opportunity of working in both oil and wax, and with acrylics–where I like to take advantage of particular characteristics in the materials that I find appropriate.

I feel my abstract pieces are reasonably straight forward given my interest in landscape and the use of color, however the more austere work making use of the surface to suggest an object evolved from my interest in the Babylonian stele.What I’m interested in is creating an object where a certain sense of mystery takes hold—using the imagination to fashion a story or dream of another place or time–paralleling written language.I’m eliminating a more traditional object in the painting and wanting the surface to become more important as a subject.Currently, I am making a number of these object paintings as three-dimensional free-standing pieces mimicking the idea of the stone tablet or stele, however the 2D work on panels remains my primary way of working in this group.

In a general sense the conceptual side of my work has its origins in landscape, place and historical mystery–while the formal elements of color and surface guide my aesthetics.

Eclipse Jungle Diary 2 Killamanjaro Number Theory 2 Number Theory 3 Number Theory 5 Number Theory 7 Number Theory 9 Summerland The Illusion Of Integrity