Ian Marshall

I view my oil paintings as abstracted blueprints for architectural segments occurring in my hometown and abroad. My compositions are derived from my heavy photographic observations of industrial aspects including interesting lineage elements, fantastic gradients found in the reflective quality of metal, and hard-edged shapes to weigh down compositions in a balancing manner. I utilize imposed color to augment the basic and generic nature of industrial surfaces and textures. I piece together my compositions similarly to a puzzle; each work is composed of multiple photographs that have been fragmented to fit into one another. My goal throughout these paintings and photographs is to create beauty from generic aspects of architecture and structures – my personal form of architectural abstraction.I consider my photographic element to be the backbone to my paintings. My photography explores areas composing of industrial, aged, natural, and complex qualities. I am drawn to intricate industrial, architectural, and natural forms occurring in the three-dimensional realm of life and transcribing them into a two-dimensional composition. The industrial nature of my photos reflect a once heavily-trafficked area now at a quiet standstill of overgrowth, overabundance of rustic development, and withering materials. I am drawn to these forgotten pockets of a life once utilized. I am more-so drawn to how such degraded and uninhabited areas can provide a pleasing homeostasis of form, color, and lineage elements into a singular composition. These photos lack any sort of physical human interaction; I am capturing the elegance of these areas in their dormant stage. The once purposeful areas have exhausted their usable potential throughout the years and now exist for a new artistic purpose.