Abstract Artist: Drew Wood
Medium: Mixed Media
Website:  www.DrewWoodArt.com

My use of color, texture, and form is an expression of my current state of mind; I paint what I feel. Sometimes I will have a preconceived idea of what I want to create. But usually, my most fulfilling artwork is when a mistake or accident flows onto the canvas. My goal is to elicit an emotional response from the viewer.  And that might be complete exhilaration or wretchedness. As long as the piece is affecting the viewer, I feel my work as an artist has been achieved. I’m heavily influenced by those whose art makes me wonder what motivated them to create the piece and to ponder how they crafted something expressive out of paint and everyday materials. The mystery of the technique. The transformation of rough objects or mundane goods into a work of fine art. Molding old, discarded items–used and thrown away–into something new, unique, or beautiful is what drives me as an artist.

Born and raised in rural Missouri and residing in Los Angeles since 1997, Wood’s art represents a melding of the abstract and contemporary—indicative of city life and pop culture—with the damaged and primitive that resides in the landscape of small towns across America. In the works of Drew Wood, this purged stagnation has at last found a canvas. Wood recently earned a master’s degree from California State University, Los Angeles and holds a B.A. in anthropology from UCLA. He credits his formal studies in art history, as well as anthropology and archeology, as universal influences on both the style and themes of his work; his passion lies in creating art by breathing new life into objects that have been weathered or discarded. Evident through the use of artifacts, bones, and symbols, his themes often revolve around contrasting cultures, locations, and lifestyles. Wood’s art originates from within, flowing outward, rather than vice versa. Through a process of trial, error, experimentation, and growth, he has developed a distinct presence as an abstract artist specializing in color and mixed media. Wood’s trademark style fuses vibrant oil and acrylics, gels, and resins as well as a variety of encaustic materials and found objects. Viscerally drawn to texture and color, the emotion wrung from the artist cannot help but be elicited in the viewer.