Michael Walden: BEING

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“The longer you look at an object,

  the more abstract it becomes…”

—Lucian Freud 

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Moving beyond my last collection of observational work, this series extends into a broader inquiry. These prints and paintings organically explore plays of light and color, and the tensions between surface, depth, and pattern that have always interested me.

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The serendipity of printmaking–its quick, intuitive activity–produced unexpected interactions: overlapping images, collage, and layered shadows. These inspired ambiguous starting places for new works. 

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This process also led the paintings into fresh investigations and abstraction. Importing the printmaker’s brayer, tape, and stencil, I added veneers to the depth and volume that are a signature of painting. Referencing recurring motifs, the figure took on more conceptual directions.