Michael Mahnke        
           
   

Painting for me is an exercise of not how much I know, but what there is to discover. I choose to express in these works a kind of energy that places subtle elegance next to dynamic contrasts, weaving and contexturing lines and contours of shapes as unbroken sequences in time, or uninterrupted expanses of space.

Painting is a medium that allows for intimacy.

Shapes dissolve then resurface, exposing a skeletal structure that constitutes liquid and at times stone. Boundaries engage and energize one another, harmoniously suspending moments of past and present.

In flashes of clarity, streaming paint lines become attenuated and at times broad, like veins crossing arteries. A door opens to an environment that pulsates and beats rhythmically. Compositions are hard and dirty; they are rich and gorgeous.

Each work has a kind of illumination for how one extends oneself. We are always expanding our bodies, inhaling and exhaling; a kind of attunement and healing.

Making art validates my vulnerability.