Katie Baines

Region: South

As I work, I don’t contemplate a painting’s end result, but instead move forward mark by mark, layer on layer, considering each action individually. These maneuvers can be altered or masked, but never erased. The compositions rely on my intuition, to the extent that I’m appraising the color, shape, and texture of each stroke, desiring to establish meaningful relationships among them. These are paintings assembled piece by piece and revealed to me incrementally. To the viewer, they come all at once.

Although nonrepresentational, recognizable forms can take shape—blades of grass, coral reef, radioactive matter. I allow it. These forms exhibit qualities of human behavior. Shapes can be loud, obnoxious, quiet, or sophisticated. They can converse among themselves and affect one another.

To bring about diversity, I experiment with the application of paint, using an airbrush and various methods that might fall outside traditional use. The process is meticulous. This precision imbues a sense of control in what is otherwise uncertain. What matters is momentum, accumulation, and the convivial communal clash.