TYLER ABRAHAMSON

Tyler Abrahamson is currently earning his BFA in painting and sculpture with a minor in Art History at Mankato State University. My paintings and sculptures are very different visually but I believe they are similar in blueprint. I am interested in the compositions, engineering and the conceptual complexity of rather simple structures. This interest is the underlying consideration when it comes to designing my art. I engineer the composition, structure and concepts of the artwork far before I begin the actual sculpture or painting. For my paintings I find applications like Photoshop help fine tune and easily alter color combinations, compositions, subject matter and so on. The technique I use for the majority of my paintings is influenced by Mark Tansey’s subtractive method in which paint is applied over sections and then removed while it is wet and Odd Nerdrum’s “struggle not to drown” in which various objects and tools are used to create a convincing picture. The combination of these techniques often relates to the concepts within the paintings. Illusion also plays an important role in my works. The illusions vary from perspective anamorphosis, to the appearance of pushing and pulling. Often in my paintings the “forth wall” is broken and the viewer is torn between observing the work as a reality or a painting. My sculptures are frequently similar in that the viewer has a choice between assigning symbolic ideologies to the aesthetics of the work or simply observing and documenting the visuals. I craft the compositions of my works to act as metaphors with as numerous applications as possible without sacrificing the conceptual foundation. This is done through a delicate balance of symbolic use and selection of other parameters that narrow the works possible relevance but simultaneously amplify the visual power.