MICHAEL GREER
Artist / painter
BIO
Michael was raised in Italy, Spain, and Belgium, before returning to Canada to study. He studied fine arts at the University of Guelph and OCAD University in Ontario, Canada, and the Academie des Beaux-Arts de Watermael-Boitsfort in Brussels, Belgium, before completing his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at NSCAD University. Following art school he made films/videos for a number of years before returning to painting and drawing. He currently lives, and maintains a studio practice, in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I create figurative oil paintings and drawings, conjured from my imagination but making use of photo references, which touch on themes of intimacy, impermanence and our relationship with nature and spirit. The figures, simplified in their form and arranged in often simple but dynamic compositions, interact with nature, with select man made structures or with other figures in ambiguous, non-narrative ways. This juxtaposition of the human form with other elements creates a dialogue between my internal experiences and external realities. The history of the application of oil paint or charcoal, put down in layers over weeks or months, is evident in the final work. This type of mark making affirms that it is a painting the viewer is looking at and reveals both the process I used and the time it took me to make the work. The figures inhabit that temporal environment. Influenced by a diverse and ever changing roster of art historical figures such as Euan Uglow, Piero Della Francesca and Jean-Baptistery-Camille Corot, the figures remain intact, which speaks to the beauty and wholeness that I see in the human form and in the potential for humans beings.
The viewer, for their part, becomes a witness to the dramatic and technical narratives in the work, bringing to the work their own history and interpretations. If my work resonates emotionally with the viewer even for a little while, much like we feel after watching a good movie, then I have achieved something. Even if my paintings are representational, I prefer to convey emotion over description.
In this world of fast paced images and overstimulation I believe that painting, perhaps more than ever, can provide meaning and significance and allow for moments of quiet contemplation, deeper questioning and wonder. Art can help us elucidate why we are here, where we have been and where we might be going. Painting still offers us an incomparable and honest insight into what it is to be human and our place in the world.