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Michael Watson

Michael Watson is a New York based, Filipino American multidisciplinary artist. His process-based sculptures, installations, and performance art embraces destructive and regenerative processes. He relies on experimental modes of production such as improvisation, destabilization and chance. He engages with found objects and natural materials such as plywood, rice and fire to produce his works. Watson explores the interstices of being, substance and imperceptibility through the use of rice and other materials as a substitute for the human body. Watson's individual and collaborative work has been exhibited throughout the US including the Greenville Museum of Art (2021 - present), stART Space Gallery, Manchester Center, VT (2018 -2019), Gowanus Dredgers, Brooklyn, NY (2018), LaBodega Gallery, NY (2018), Hunterdon Art Museum, NJ (2017), Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, NY (2015,16), Brooklyn Museum (2014-15), Leila Heller Gallery, NYC (2014), SOMArts Cultural Center, San Francisco, CA (2014), Strange Loop Gallery, NYC (2014), Ideas City Festival via AiOP affiliated with The New Museum (2013), The Kitchen, NYC (2013), Governor’s Island Art Fair, NYC (2012/13), and the Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, TN (2006). His residency experience includes Arts, Letters and Numbers, Averill Park NY (2017), AIR Program 4heads Organization, NYC (2013) and the New York Studio Program, NYC (2006). His work can be found in several publications including Caddisfly Project Volume 4 (Forthcoming), The Seeds of Creation: Art and Spirituality, by Cosmina Ene (2021), Gwan Anthology: Volume Two, Forward Comix (2020), and The Seeds of Creation: Artists During the 2020 Pandemic, by Cosmina Ene (2020). Currently, he is participating in the ChaShaMa Space to Create studio program in New York City. Watson received an MFA in Fine Arts from Parsons School of Design (2013) and a BFA in Painting from the Art Academy of Cincinnati (2006).
(Biography provided by Tabla Rasa Gallery)
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Pyre I, charred birch plywood abstract patterns earth tones created with fire
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Pyre I 2017 charred birch plywood panel 32" x 24" x 1.25" Pyre I is part of a series of charred panels Watson completed in 2017 at the Arts, Letters and Numbers Residency in Averill Park, NY. The pieces incorporate local materials, rice, and fire to create charred photographic images on plywood that explore themes related to being, substance and imperceptibility. The imagery references the practice of cremation on a funerary pyre in which the corpse is prepared and burned over a construction of combustible materials. Within the work, rather than destroying the body, the fire produces an afterimage that remains indefinitely. Each day Watson would scavenge the site collecting natural objects, such as sticks, small rocks, and other detritus. He laid these objects on the surface of the plywood with raw rice. The surface was then charred using a propane torch. After the objects and rice were removed an image of them remained, like a photogram. In some panels, He incorporated a homemade black rice ink or various paints to tint the surface before and after burning. Rice is a recurring theme in Watson’s work. It alludes to an uncontained body in the process of decay, returning to the earth to become a source of sustenance for new life. It also imagines the soul extending beyond its fleshly container. The act of burning attempts to capture the space between life, death, and rebirth— freezing it in a state of transformation. The sticks, stones, and rice become remnants of life and markers of space and time. They are more than mere grains and detritus. They become the body as a trace of what was and a reflection of what will be. Michael...
Category

2010s Abstract Michael Watson

Materials

Wood, Plywood, Birch, Wood Panel

Pyre III, charred birch plywood abstract patterns earth tones created with fire
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Pyre III 2017 charred birch plywood panel 32" x 24" x 1.25" Pyre III is part of a series of charred panels Watson completed in 2017 at the Arts, Letters and Numbers Residency in Averill Park, NY. The pieces incorporate local materials, rice, and fire to create charred photographic images on plywood that explore themes related to being, substance and imperceptibility. The imagery references the practice of cremation on a funerary pyre in which the corpse is prepared and burned over a construction of combustible materials. Within the work, rather than destroying the body, the fire produces an afterimage that remains indefinitely. Each day Watson would scavenge the site collecting natural objects, such as sticks, small rocks, and other detritus. He laid these objects on the surface of the plywood with raw rice. The surface was then charred using a propane torch. After the objects and rice were removed an image of them remained, like a photogram. In some panels, He incorporated a homemade black rice ink or various paints to tint the surface before and after burning. Rice is a recurring theme in Watson’s work. It alludes to an uncontained body in the process of decay, returning to the earth to become a source of sustenance for new life. It also imagines the soul extending beyond its fleshly container. The act of burning attempts to capture the space between life, death, and rebirth— freezing it in a state of transformation. The sticks, stones, and rice become remnants of life and markers of space and time. They are more than mere grains and detritus. They become the body as a trace of what was and a reflection of what will be. Michael Watson...
Category

2010s Abstract Michael Watson

Materials

Wood, Birch, Plywood, Wood Panel

Pyre VII, india ink charred plywood abstract patterns earth tones created w fire
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Pyre VII 2017 India ink and acrylic paint on charred birch plywood 32" x 24" x 1.25" Pyre VII is part of a series of charred panels Watson completed in 2017 at the Arts, Letters and Numbers Residency in Averill Park, NY. The pieces incorporate local materials, rice, and fire to create charred photographic images on plywood that explore themes related to being, substance and imperceptibility. The imagery references the practice of cremation on a funerary pyre in which the corpse is prepared and burned over a construction of combustible materials. Within the work, rather than destroying the body, the fire produces an afterimage that remains indefinitely. Each day Watson would scavenge the site collecting natural objects, such as sticks, small rocks, and other detritus. He laid these objects on the surface of the plywood with raw rice. The surface was then charred using a propane torch. After the objects and rice were removed an image of them remained, like a photogram. In some panels, He incorporated a homemade black rice ink or various paints to tint the surface before and after burning. Rice is a recurring theme in Watson’s work. It alludes to an uncontained body in the process of decay, returning to the earth to become a source of sustenance for new life. It also imagines the soul extending beyond its fleshly container. The act of burning attempts to capture the space between life, death, and rebirth— freezing it in a state of transformation. The sticks, stones, and rice become remnants of life and markers of space and time. They are more than mere grains and detritus. They become the body as a trace of what was and a reflection of what will be. Michael Watson...
Category

2010s Abstract Michael Watson

Materials

Wood, Plywood, Acrylic, India Ink, Birch, Wood Panel

Pyre XII, stainless steel pieces and charred birch plywood created with fire
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Pyre XII 2017 stainless steel pieces and charred birch plywood 32" x 24" x 1.25" Pyre XII is part of a series of charred panels Watson completed in 2017 at the Arts, Letters and Numbers Residency in Averill Park, NY. The pieces incorporate local materials, rice, and fire to create charred photographic images on plywood that explore themes related to being, substance and imperceptibility. The imagery references the practice of cremation on a funerary pyre in which the corpse is prepared and burned over a construction of combustible materials. Within the work, rather than destroying the body, the fire produces an afterimage that remains indefinitely. Each day Watson would scavenge the site collecting natural objects, such as sticks, small rocks, and other detritus. He laid these objects on the surface of the plywood with raw rice. The surface was then charred using a propane torch. After the objects and rice were removed an image of them remained, like a photogram. In some panels, He incorporated a homemade black rice ink or various paints to tint the surface before and after burning. Rice is a recurring theme in Watson’s work. It alludes to an uncontained body in the process of decay, returning to the earth to become a source of sustenance for new life. It also imagines the soul extending beyond its fleshly container. The act of burning attempts to capture the space between life, death, and rebirth— freezing it in a state of transformation. The sticks, stones, and rice become remnants of life and markers of space and time. They are more than mere grains and detritus. They become the body as a trace of what was and a reflection of what will be. Michael Watson...
Category

2010s Abstract Michael Watson

Materials

Metal, Stainless Steel

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Michael Watson art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Michael Watson art available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Michael Watson in birch, panel, plywood and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 21st century and contemporary and is mostly associated with the abstract style. Not every interior allows for large Michael Watson art, so small editions measuring 24 inches across are available. Michael Watson art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $1,500 and tops out at $1,500, while the average work can sell for $1,500.

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