Ariel Mitchell

Lives and works in Brooklyn, NY, USA

Artist statement

Growing up in the woods allowed me to develop a relationship with nature. Studying the hairs that make up a moss bed or investigating frogs’ eggs growing in a swamp, I became obsessed with observing details. I found villages in the nook of a tree branch and cities under logs, and the forest itself was an entire universe. My paintings are visual translations of these sensorial observations. I’ve ascribed the term “building a scaffolding” to my process, which starts with a loose system of chosen words in an attempt to describe these small ineffable moments. These words come intuitively, sometimes with the help of a thesaurus. Often a title arrives out of this exercise, as well as colors and composition, which are then jotted down in studies. I am fascinated with the similarities between the structural elements of written language and visual language; the share of mark making to impart something understandable. Working on portrait- oriented canvases is reminiscent of writing on a page, and I try to translate the feeling behind the words through a personal macro to micro system. Inspired by artists like Cy Twombly, Julie Mehretu, and Petra Cortright, I make my paintings with scale in mind. Using a range of brush sizes, spanning 6” to three hairs, I layer marks over top of one another to build up the picture plane, using density and color to define the composition. Working on linen, the resulting paintings become their own universe, using marks as an invented language in an...

Artwork