Abstract
In the Dark Matter series of paintings I am abstracting images from NASA’s efforts to map dark matter using the Hubble Space Telescope. From these abstractions I create diaphanous veils of blue that convey a sense of movement; the movement suggests primal forces: wind, water air and fire.
The figure in the foreground is one of the elements: gold, copper, silver, which develop into a variety of fantastic shapes. The ‘elements’ which are the foundation of life on earth, are born in the heart of a star and explode out into the universe upon its death and collapse. The force of gravity brings them spiraling together to create planets, solar systems and life. My paintings are meant to convey a sublime feeling for these forces and to draw my audience into a meditation on the wonder of creation.
Natural forms communicate feelings and histories of the evolution of life. I am intuitively searching for forms that capture my imagination and launch a universe of meaning.
DOI
10.5642/steam.20160202.16
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Brewer, Gary
(2016)
"Gary Brewer - Dark Matter Series,"
The STEAM Journal:
Vol. 2:
Iss.
2, Article 16.
DOI: 10.5642/steam.20160202.16
Available at:
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/steam/vol2/iss2/16
Author/Artist Bio
I was raised in Lancaster, California. My father was a test pilot and later became an engineer in the aerospace industry, working to land a man on the moon. As a young child we would walk to the end of our street, which dead-ended at the edge of the desert to watch the X-15 coming in for a landing after skirting the edge of the atmosphere. It was here that the first philosophical musings arose in my young mind. When I stood on the pavement of our street I was in ‘civilization’, but by simply stepping over the edge onto the desert sand I was back in ‘nature’ among the Road Runners, Jack Rabbits, Horny Toads and Kangaroo Rats that were my companions on my excursions into the wild. At the age of 6 we moved to Orange County and my love of the ocean grew out of a youth spent surfing from San Diego to Malibu. I began drawing at a young age and chronicled my friends and the neighborhood where I lived with a drawing pad and a pen always at my side. At the age of 21, after a brief stint trying out commercial illustration, I made a vow to spend the rest of my life pursing my art. I am a self-taught artist, learning with deep passion the history of art from countless hours reading and visiting museums throughout the world. I have curated two major exhibitions, “Them; Artists, Scientists and Designers Concerned with the Entomological World” SOMARTS, San Francisco, CA in 1999 and “The Age of Wonder; Artist’s Engaged with the Natural World” Turtle Bay Museum, Redding, CA in 2011. Both of these exhibitions gave me an opportunity to explore contemporary artists who share my passion for nature and art. My works have been exhibited in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco and are in private, corporate and museum collections throughout the United States.