Michael Watson

Pyre I, charred birch plywood abstract patterns earth tones created with fire

2017

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...

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...

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...

Oil on panel. Tribute to the ocean and all the life within it.

Abstract interior. Oil on panel. 2022.

A landscape involving the idea of quantum superposition or matter existing as a combination of multiple states with multiple outcomes. Only the viewer can determine which potential ...

There is rarely any forward planning, materials and choices are made randomly, colors and mediums are selected in accordance with the needs of what transpires at the moment. At times...

There is rarely any forward planning, materials and choices are made randomly, colors and mediums are selected in accordance with the needs of what transpires at the moment. At times...

There is rarely any forward planning, materials and choices are made randomly, colors and mediums are selected in accordance with the needs of what transpires at the moment. At times...

Code U63 is Mixed Media on Panel, acrylic, collage, spray paint, epoxy resin. Size 48″X32″ Date of creation March 2023 Signed, dated on the reverse. The piece is combination of multiple techniques, multiple layers of acrylic paint, geometric abstract, collage, epoxy on the board. First, artists created an abstract background palette in pink, gold, dust pink, violet. After that, artist created larger scale geometric design - diamonds, lines, patterns. Then - another layer of the smaller scale geometric pattern, and finally - very detailed patterns, designs, geometric combinations. The unique antique art patterns transformed by artist into modern geometric abstract patterns. It can be perfect art for bohemian interior, modern, casual and rustic decor. Art belongs to series Code U (Ukraine). It is series of abstract compositions featuring Ukrainian geometric patterns . Symbols, signs, systems and antique patterns used in fashion embroidery for hundreds years by ancestors of Ukrainians. According to ethnography’ research the embroidery symbols hold special vibrations, strength, and energy. Art pieces from Code U series by Oksana Tanasiv belong to private collections worldwide , and to the following museum collections: -The Museum of Imrich Winter, Bath Piestany, EU -The Ukrainian Art...

Michele Kishita's recent body of abstract landscape paintings on wood panel amplify the expanse of space in the sky, placing the viewer in a floating position before the infinite, wh...

Michele Kishita's contemporary abstract landscape paintings on wood panel collectively describe the new growth of spring; the calm and fluidity of bodies of water at specific moments...