Biography
www.scottsuttonart.com
Scott Sutton has been creating art professionally since his graduation from Oregon State University in 1998, where he earned his Bachelors of Fine Arts with an emphasis in painting. It was during the first year of college that he realized that art was going to be an important part of his life and he has been developing not only his skills and knowledge, but also his voice through images. Scott works in numerous mediums such as printmaking, photography, and painting. Scott has also developed an interest in creating art in the public realm, such as playground and garden designs that incorporate elements of the cultural environment that resonate with the natural landscape.
Over the past ten years he has been making his own oil paints for his own use and the colors that appear in his paintings have an intensity that doesn't exist in art made with commercially made paints. Within the past two years Scott has begun his search for minerals from Oregon and Washington to use not only in his own art, but also as an educational tool to promote preservation and understanding of cultural, environmental, and historical issues. Scott has been working very closely with the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde in Portland, OR where tribal members are learning how to make their own paints just as their ancestors would have prior to the arrival of European traders.
Scott's paintings reflect the environment that he lives within, but also responds to the circumstances that we find ourselves as a human race trying to survive the onslaught of global diasporas, political subjugation, and environmental destruction. His art speaks of truths that seem to be tossed aside for the sake of commercial success while confronting the reality that truly exists. True art is a bridge that brings social justice to the forefront and puts corruption in its grave. Yet most art today paints a pretty picture that doesn't address what is really happening. Art has the abilitiy to questions our actions and survive through generations, which resonates with all cultures regardless of language or religion.
The creative process is what is truly healing and art should connect with those who lay their eyes upon the surface of color and form. Scott approaches the canvas with spontaneity through the subconscious, allowing images to be born through color and texture. Naturally allowing the compositoin to come to fruition and consciously working with what has been given to him. Once something is forced beyond its own will, it is destroyed. So finding a balance between the conscious and the subconscious is key to creating art that reflects the inward emotion and the outward explosion. By not starting with an drawn out idea, Scott has been able to create images that are a call and response to what exists not only within the present moment, but also within the past and the future.
Over the past ten years he has been making his own oil paints for his own use and the colors that appear in his paintings have an intensity that doesn't exist in art made with commercially made paints. Within the past two years Scott has begun his search for minerals from Oregon and Washington to use not only in his own art, but also as an educational tool to promote preservation and understanding of cultural, environmental, and historical issues. Scott has been working very closely with the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde in Portland, OR where tribal members are learning how to make their own paints just as their ancestors would have prior to the arrival of European traders.
Scott's paintings reflect the environment that he lives within, but also responds to the circumstances that we find ourselves as a human race trying to survive the onslaught of global diasporas, political subjugation, and environmental destruction. His art speaks of truths that seem to be tossed aside for the sake of commercial success while confronting the reality that truly exists. True art is a bridge that brings social justice to the forefront and puts corruption in its grave. Yet most art today paints a pretty picture that doesn't address what is really happening. Art has the abilitiy to questions our actions and survive through generations, which resonates with all cultures regardless of language or religion.
The creative process is what is truly healing and art should connect with those who lay their eyes upon the surface of color and form. Scott approaches the canvas with spontaneity through the subconscious, allowing images to be born through color and texture. Naturally allowing the compositoin to come to fruition and consciously working with what has been given to him. Once something is forced beyond its own will, it is destroyed. So finding a balance between the conscious and the subconscious is key to creating art that reflects the inward emotion and the outward explosion. By not starting with an drawn out idea, Scott has been able to create images that are a call and response to what exists not only within the present moment, but also within the past and the future.