Adam Shaw
Artwork’s Title: Sometimes Inside, Sometimes Outside, Sometimes Right on the Surface
Materials Used: Acrylic on Canvas
Studio Based: Brooklyn, NY
Can you tell us about the process of making your work?
The process always begins with language. In using this as a starting point, I make drawings and filter them through another set of processes – historical, observational, and personal, in an attempt to understand how knowledge and comprehension are arrived at. Images are dragged through space: digital, physical, imagined. They proceed to pick up whatever might attach to them — exploring aspects of material, quotational, image and sign, how they are represented, how they might be re-presented, and contextualize one another.
How would you define your work in a few words (ideally in 3 words)?
In my work I am constantly trying to avoid definition.
Is there any story behind this work?
I was developing some drawings in April 2020 when NYC was in lockdown. My studio was closed and I was working from home. These drawings approached the idea of transitional spaces; something that asks the viewer to both enter one (or two, or three) space(s) while simultaneously being pushed to contemplate the surface of another.
Can you mention any artists you, lately or generally, take inspiration from?
Recently I’ve been looking at Charline von Heyl, Jacqueline Humphries, Al Loving, Laura Owens, Michel Majerus, Jack Whitten
Do you ever wonder if additional work was needed, when an artwork’s making process is finished?
No, I just make another painting 🙂
What about the place where you work? What’s your studio space look like?
I recently graduated from Hunter College MFA and moved to a new studio in Brooklyn. I can see the statue of liberty from my little window!
Which exhibition did you visit last?
I saw Grief and Grievance at New Museum last week.
Additional Images
All images are courtesy of the artist