Michael K. Paxton

The act of drawing, pushing, scrubbing, building, searching for a surface with a mark, that leads to the next mark, showing every mark. Looking for a space, a place, not just a thing. A fluid process that accepts, even rewards accidents caused by following my intent. Addition through negation using thin washes caressed into layers of thin washes. Layers of richness based on four decades of sketchbooks, performances, set designs, films edited, installations, paintings, experimental wrong turns, of work, a whole sea that is now inside of me. Looking for confidence in a surface that controls my very perception of the present, of location, distance. Focused on stationary work that won’t stand still, that moves as I move. Learning the way of the eyes through hands, embracing the toughness, the destruction, the landscape visceral, formed one shovel full at a time in my own coalmine. Taking care of the work each day that will take care of me in turn. To transcend my simple desires, simple ideas and touch deep to the possible root of honesty, personal and common as dirt. Joy of being trapped in a world of my own making, solitary, secluded, freedom. A freedom earned from years of scars, fear, survival and stubbornness. Always following the work, it leads me.

Website: www.michaelkpaxton.com