Artist: Matt O’Neill
May 2013

Pattern Building suggests a sense of order and harmony, sometimes through the mere act of being stacked (superimposed, juxtaposed, or absent) in otherwise chaotic associations of color and line.

These selections are evocative of urban situations, either seen from altitude, or represented on a city’s transport schematic, or the overlay of geographic and physical features meant to evince a knowledge of the situation affecting our environment—whether we live there or not is irrelevant since we can view and empathize.

In abstraction art doesn't represent anything—at least not on purpose. Although recognizable things may be discernible, I didn't intend for them to be there. This doesn't mean that what you see isn't there, just that the interactions of the form are available for subjective interpretation.

Environment is key—but not just geography, but time, mood, and stimulus. I may find myself at a particular moment of reality, and the work will often reflect that; either in choice of color, or rhythmic values.

Certain environments become ‘collectivized’ in my experience, so that a city of boxy buildings will produce a similar response whether Ottawa, Seoul, or Frankfurt. A landscape of natural beauty will do the same, be it the Alps, the Pacific, or the Negev. When associated on a canvas, these environments lead to even further changes in the motifs in a work, convoluting it, and eventually leading to a new harmony.