Brendan Barnes

Artist Statement My work explores structured compositions using symmetry and grid patterns to create an experience of the unknown. I Borrow from minimalism’s preoccupation with geometry as a void space and use this geometry as a starting point and a tool for play. Using a process akin to the surrealist notion of automatism I look for systems of logic which escape my ability to understand. The work exists at the intersection between the rational and whatever undefinable experience lies beyond. What I have discovered is that when I approach my work systematically, it becomes a labyrinth of associations and connections. The decisions I make in my work are constantly challenging a knowable visual reality. By severing links with reality, our rational minds can release analysis and rational comprehension of the work. The hope is that my work will remain mysterious. With resignation and abandonment of the intellect the work becomes vibrant. Through this experience I hope to expose the insufficiency of the intellect as a tool to explain the experiences and to illuminate that which exists beyond our grasp.