JEREMY SIEDT
BRUTAList
AN EXPLORATION OF THE VICTOR VS THE VICTIM
BRUTAList Series Narrative
A profound thing happens when an act of aggression is performed with intent and purpose. These works are quite literally attacked by myself and a various array of tools, materials and by nature itself. Allowing the work to be “destroyed” exhibits elements of vigilance, resistance, resiliency and beauty. I find balance and peace in my process and what emerges tends to be the relic of those actions, care and intent. This is a collection of work exploring that violent nature of painting. Pierce, lacerate, layer and assemblage on the two-dimensional support to figure the void as a space of liberating potentiality. Experimenting vigorously, venturing into methods that seem against the medium and process of painting. The most noteworthy of which are the violent actions and physicality forced onto the surface as I seek to transcend the two-dimensional plane of the canvas.
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Creativity can take on many roles, while often it fulfills the craving for aesthetic desires it can also demand change. Auto-Destructive Art seeks to remind people of the horrors which they are perpetuating and is a warning to reverse course. From the embers of destruction the medium emerges reborn, a complex power referencing the experience of living in a world perched on the brink of self-annihilation. The physical expression of these works is the manifestation of my emotional state when pondering the juxtaposition of positive innovation and perpetual regression of mankind.
Statement
"My work explores the boundaries and potential of corrosive metals and materials in painting. I capture the color and movement that occurs in the properties of individual metals during the process of corrosion. The metal is laid behind the canvas and stained by working from the front with different solutions, which bring the corrosive property through the canvas. I add depth with the use of pigments and other various mediums, including metal on the front of the canvas to further the depth and complexity of the image.
Process is the most important aspect of my creative method. My vigorous, repetitive motions on both the front and back of the canvas act as an imprint and recording of the harsh interaction between destruction and rebirth. I am aware of the impermanence in these images that I paint, and embrace this factor in my studio practice. This impermanence plays a very important role in the overall composition and atmosphere portrayed in the physical representation of the multilayered space of each painting. My calculated decisions are intertwined with spontaneous occurrences that juxtapose the ideas of color and composition, as well as the deterioration and preservation of contemporary painting."
Artist Bio
Jeremy Siedt is an artist, painter, creator located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He has had both a formal and informal education in the creative endeavor. He received his Bachelor’s Degree from Tyler School of Art and his Master’s from University of the Arts Philadelphia. He grew up in a blue collared family, working with his hands was all he knew. Everything from carpentry, building bikes, sports, landscaping and auto mechanics has formed his methodology on creating raw visceral works. Impermanence and the recording of his bodies gestural movement and attack on the canvas creates depth and complexity that is a reflection on the world that surrounds us. He heads the Fine Art Department at Lehigh Carbon Community College and also is the director and head curator at Glass Box Gallery in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania. His studio is a place of risk and possibility where both process and material take charge which allows candid reaction and alchemy to merge as one.​