Britton Tolliver

Region: Pacific Coast

My paintings draw from the full range of abstraction’s possibilities, fusing diverse positions and processes in hard-fought, deeply considered compositions. I execute each work in a series of discrete stages: initial layers of paint are almost completely obscured by subsequent ones, with masking tape used to both inscribe and preserve areas of interest as the composition evolves.

The paintings speak to a nuanced relationship with the natural world. For instance, their textured surfaces, notable for their depth of relief and seductive tactility, can be read as topographic maps or psychedelic scans of alien landscapes; meanwhile, their high-contrast chromatic range can recall the lurid immediacy of Los Angeles—its sublime sunsets and brash digital billboards, and the moods and spaces it conjures. Yet, even as I continue to grapple with the legacies of abstraction in a contemporary context, my most recent works have begun to embrace figurative elements.