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Byron Spicer

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As an Asian Pacific-American one of the greatest influences on my art is having grown up in San Francisco during the 1960's and 70's. At that time the city bustled with creative energy from peoples of many races and ethnicities, social activists, artists, musicians, gays, hippies, and the working class. My family lived a few blocks from the city's geographical center, and our neighborhood became an intersection for forces of social and cultural experimentation. As a young child I wandered this landscape - at play in a world of possibility.

I am most interested in how our world refuses easy categorization. I love mystery: the contradictions and odd coincidences where the definitive rests on shaky ground. Through painting and collage I search for visions of association and disconnection.

I paint fifty to sixty images simultaneously, working quickly on small pieces of paper. My subjects vary significantly, including cartoon-like people, flying imaginary creatures, animated architecture, austere landscapes, elements from nature such as tree branches and rocks. I also paint abstractions influenced from 20th Century western art - experimenting with relationships of form, line and color. I am open to influences both from the physical environment and the world of

After amassing several hundreds of these paintings, I assemble them onto one panel, arranging them in a grid and in three dimensional layers. Stacking pieces increases the overall physical and psychological density. Each assemblage becomes a field of ideas, symbols and references - a kind of playground for the imagination. I enjoy meandering about the lookouts and hideaways dreaming up colorful tales of adventure.

Educated at U.C. Berkeley and S.F. State Universities, Spicer has exhibited in both public and private venues across the Bay Area. Public venues include Laney College, Oakland, CA and Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA. Private exhibitions include Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA and Sun Microsystems, Santa Clara, CA.


Before the Storm, 2000
28" x 28", acrylic on paper/wood

 

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