Mark Pomilio

The Black Robe

2024

Mark Pomilio’s method, motives, and conceptual considerations are centered on visually articulating recent developments in the life sciences. It is not his intent to condemn or celebrate these developments, but rather, to express their profound relevance within our current era. He has chosen to create imagery, which expresses a developmental process rather than an overt visual depiction. The origin of this research has been formulated through a series of simple geometrical equations. These equations have yielded a group of “parent” rudimentary geometrical forms. One or several of these forms are multiplied and folded equally throughout the pictorial field. Through this process, a formal, pictorial, structure is born. Therefore each image has evolved through the development of pictorial representations of geometric systems of growth. This “parent” form is representative and meant to emulate a single cell dividing and compounding into a complex organism. Therefore, within the image field, each decision is multiplied equally throughout the field, causing a type of visual unity. This balance and symmetry has a visual equivalency in how we read the meditative qualities of a reflective pool, or a religious icon. In the end, his goal is to force a harmony upon the image field that, in turn, forces a potential meaning through the integration of the image and title. The geometrical forms used to create the images found within the CCS (Cloned Cell Series) & Family Circle Series have much in common with the manner in which scientific publications express cell structures visually. In these publications, the geometrical pictorial forms of the pentagon and hexagon are varied in their arrangement and each construction has differing associations. In this work, I have combined these forms with a form I have invented, which resembles the contour of a house in perspective. This form, conceptually, is representative of the family nucleus; which is on the verge of profound changes, as new discoveries in cloning and the life sciences interface with society. The six sided house form also has the inherent ability to unify the other geometrical forms pictorially. All three forms are utilized to create a work that addresses my individual societal concerns, as well as my formal and aesthetic concerns. Mark Pomilio has exhibited his work extensively across the United States and abroad. His work is included in the permanent collections of Baylor University, Martin Museum of Art, Waco, TX; Dupont Corporation, Wilmington, DE; University of Arizona, Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI; in addition to many private collections. He currently lives and works in Arizona and teaches painting and drawing at Arizona State University.