All Eyes On: Mark Burrell

My work is autobiographical. At a basic level, it is an attempt at introspection – a seeing and understanding of myself. My paintings are, for me, an exercise in therapy. It is a way of learning to live with myself and to understand myself and the world around me. Ultimately, maybe helping others with that enlightenment too.  When I work, I am always manipulating materials “playing” – turning something that is lowly, or nothing in itself, (like sticks, scraps of fabric and paper) into an expressive work that can, hopefully, alter the viewer’s spirit. I try to keep the smaller scale works I make for closer, more intimate topics. The scale not only allows me to reflect on space – on ideas of emptiness for instance, but also gives those insignificant or underestimated things a powerful presence. This demonstrates that they also have greatness and relevance and gives the viewer an opportunity to simply stop and fix their attention for a while.