Owen Demers
About Owen Demers:
Attracted to, and distracted by many, many things, my latest body of work explores abstract, lyrical, encaustic paintings. Encaustics, an ancient medium of pigment and molten wax, suits my frenetic, impatient temperament because of its instantaneous drying and pliable nature. It allows me to create, scrape away, melt off, and obscure these celebratory bursts of bubbles and cursive calligraphic marks. Erasing, editing and covering are more interesting to me than ‘keeping’. It is my desire to create an ambiguous and non-sequitur like image with these paintings. They are a graphic and texturally humorous metaphor of dreams and memories, layering and fading, affecting who we think we are.
I grew up in Calgary, Canada and attended the Alberta College of Art and Design. There I studied painting, printmaking, graphic design and illustration, obtaining a BFA. Since then I have explored a myriad of mediums and messages through theater, performance art, film, graphic design, freelance illustration, CD Rom games, writing and music…(see above note about distractions). I now find myself in the film industry as a senior painter working on projects such as the Matrix Sequels, Constantine, Monster House, Beowulf, Eagle Eye and presently, Watchmen, to name a few.
When I am not painting I am usually reading or drawing in my favorite cafe, playing guitar or fast asleep on my couch in a pile of candy while the TV flickers light across my head.
Artist Statement:
This recent body of work is a continuation of a search I have for a lexicon of shapes, symbols and palette of colors. This lexicon has manifested itself into a celebratory burst of circles, spheres, fragments of cursive calligraphy, amoeba-like intrusions, cells, paramecium — on a micro scale, or a chromatically inverted galaxy of stars, nebulae and gases — from a macro standpoint. Small is big. Big is small.
Symbols and shapes from this lexicon initiate the painting. It is part of my process to practice an intuitive, instinctive and meditative form of painting. As a result, the design of these paintings are not planned beforehand. Trying to flow with what ‘is’ at the time of painting, leaving judgment and internal dialogue out of their creation. This is rarely successful, however the process often creates new shapes and symbols as well as many, and most welcome, struggles… a building up… a tearing down. Creating and erasing play an integral role, in fact erasing or covering up is more important than keeping.
It is my desire to create an ambiguous and non-sequitur like reality with these paintings. A partial recognition of fading dreams, images and memories and the layering effect this has on our lives. How this creates an intense and texturally humorous fabric/texture is more what these paintings are about.
Visit Owen’s website at:
Full feature film credits available at www.imdb.com
Peteys Dream
