Bruce Black Art True art is characterized by an irresistible urge in the creative artist. Albert Einstein

This series really began in Oregon when I was still creating small abstractions. I would react to the shapes of the dilapidated barns as well as the geometric alignment of the orchards and fields. At that time, the imagery was reduced to it’s essence or elemental shapes.

Upon arriving in Phoenix, the massive amount of urban sprawl and building immediately captured my imagination. I found the skeletons of houses set against the Arizona landscape to be visually enticing. It also brought up any number of metaphorical ideas related to man and nature, the environment, and our relation with it. I furthermore, find it ironic that those who actually build these massive houses have little chance of living in them.

It was also at this time that I was struggling with the loss of my father and grandmother and found the inclusion of figures to be representative of my family life and feelings. Ideas of home and family are now intertwined in the works.