Michael Perry

Lives and works in Durham, NC, USA

Artist statement

Beauty, joy, the nature of reality and getting down to the bottom of everything; these are the ideas, concepts and inspirations of my work. Natural science is my god, composition the altar and color the sacrament. I mainly work with acrylics on canvas and acrylic ink on paper. Honestly I will work with anything. For the past seven years I have been working on two main series: The Joy Series and Freehand. I will break these down separately. The Joy Series began in 2016. The works are based on the nebulous definition of joy using design elements and color theory from various studies on ‘joy’. The series combines pointillism and hard edge, and is based on the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching. The inspiration is atomic physics, nature and their reflection in indigenous and primitive styles. The copal wood carvings of Oaxaca and the intricate bead and thread work of the Huichol tribes of Mexico have always inspired me. Both incorporate pointillism and a curiosity of the nature of reality. The reason I used the I Ching Hexagrams as a guide and a naming device, is the amazing fact that this 2000 year old document was the inspiration for computing language. The broken and solid lines were the spark for the 0 + 1 for computer coding. (The painting ‘Holding Together’ is an obvious reproduction of Franks Stella’s ‘Marrakech/hexagram 8’ with my circle with circles added. This is a practice of mine to paint reproductions of paintings and artists I admire and give an image answer to the...

Artwork