A Collaboration in Paint

Pop Windows - New Paintings   Mark & Elena Erickson’s love affair with paint came about easily from the start. Once they entered the studio together for the first time it was apparent they could work well in a true partnership and accomplish something special. This has led to a remarkable collaboration. Mark and Elena have gone on a journey of imagination together through the medium of paint. In their collaborations, paint is given the power to visually echo their shared experiences, environment and emotions.

 According to Mark, “One’s life and the very place one works gets into the paintings; works overflow in graphic pop reasonings, psychedelic twists and turns of events blend into the imagination.” The energy inherent in this collaboration is palpable; the works push the limits of what paint can do to act upon our understanding of emotion.

 In the Summer of 2018, Elena and I began working on a new series of paintings. We call the works, ‘Pop Windows,’ Views through a window or a doorway is the obvious first assumption when viewing these canvases. The elements of Pop colors and images swirl over the luscious backgrounds. In one regard They are abstract images and fall into our continued work in abstract expressionism, yet there are elements of a collage character and contemporary culture. Torn away billboards and sanded down surfaces where the images of Birds continue to fly and fish swim through the channels of the built up paint.

 The works are all hand painted acrylic on canvas. Each painting is a unique story. The titles can sometimes give away some of the mystery, other times the painting becomes ethereal. But it is for the viewer to assemble the shapes into their own story.

 Brush strokes intertwine and become one. Colors mesh and shapes become lyrical and melodic. Painterly gestures expand the palette of colors and illusion of depth are enhanced.

 The painting studio in Oakland where sunlight pours through a twenty foot wall of windows, enables experimentation with light and paint, casting shadows and silhouettes on the walls. Playing with reflections and color, mixing paint at random, we attempt to capture an exciting Pop energy in these paintings

 Elena grew up in the country-side of northern Switzerland outside of city life and influences. The forest surrounded her home and most life adventures were motivated by nature.

 In our collaborations we attempt to exhibit the travels among the surf lanes of texture and pigment. Truly the sky is the limit and the seamless attempt to collaborate in earnest.

 Mark & Elena Erickson - Oakland & Venice, California 2018