Darren McManus

Region: Northeast

City / State: Lambertville, NJ

I am interested in the act of myth making as a vital form of psychological nutrition and the ability of painting to serve as a vehicle for this in contemporary culture. Bound by a micro versus macro ideology, each painting I create is a piece to my own puzzle - an eccentric, personal cosmology fueled by The Oracle of Delphi's bold words: "Know Thyself." This investigation is shrouded in mystery, and yet if mystery is manifest, then the universe becomes infinitely complex and wondrous. My paintings aim to express my own discoveries, albeit in symbolic form.

Within my work, elements collide and amalgamate to create new meaning. The results are hybrid environments evoking themes of alienation, displacement, contradiction and wonder. Toxic colors permeate the landscape, geometric structures represent spiritual icons, and symbols from various sources are reconfigured into a new visual language. Although influenced by the past and created in the present, my story unfolds around nostalgia for a time that doesn't yet exist.