Press Release: WAVES / NYC
I am honored and pleased to invite you to my next solo exhibition in New York City. Over one year ago, I found myself overwhelmed with all that was going on around me. Lost in a sea of tasks yet plagued with inaction…struggling to mentally stay afloat. Rather than fighting the current, I learned that if I cultivated a mindset of patience and resilience, everything will flow. Water metaphors have made their way into my life and art practice before, but never with this conviction. Last summer, I set forth on a body of work immersed within a central theme focused on living a life with more fluidity. Unconstrained by any specific requirements or due dates, I spent the necessary amount of time to produce something that I truly connected with. This forthcoming exhibition is the result of an initial year of completed work within a new direction I hope to further explore in the years to come.
In total, I will be presenting (26) paintings, (4) light sculptures, and (1) immersive installation.
Please join me and others as we celebrate the opening of this incredible milestone.
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W A V E S
Recent Artwork by Erik Otto
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opening reception: September 26 @ 830pm – 1030pm
exhibition on view: September 26 – October 6, 2019
321 Canal Street
New York, NY 10013
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co-presented by Wallplay & VIBES
sounds by David Baldwin
refreshments provided by my wonderful sponsors Pabst Blue Ribbon, Bar Beau, & Recess
all are always welcome
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ABOUT THE WORK
Expressing the understanding of instability and uncertainty through patience and resilience, this work is about an outlook of acceptance as a means of moving forward. Known as the force behind all living things, this new series explores the many symbolic qualities of water through nonlinear landscapes flooded with movement and free of boundaries. Compositions immersed with emotive strokes — pushing and pulling — depict the balance of turbulent and serene. The circular form, a signature motif representing the notion that life is both coming and going, emerges and recedes from view similar to the shift of a passing season.
Heavily layered, this work incorporates pools of color, fluid washes and rippling patterns contrasted by large expressive marks produced almost incidentally. Seeing imperfection as a catalyst for change, the different painted elements ebb and flow respectively in equal force reflecting moments of a transformative process. One chapter of a larger idea with an open-ended finish line, this initial phase has helped cultivate a new visual language directly influenced by the equilibrial nature of water that examines a moment of flux to a powerful time of growth.
artist portrait: Tatum Mangus
