Michael Soltis

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Michael Soltis, "Categorical Rhythm," 2017

mixed media on panel, 36" x 36"

Opening Reception: Friday, February 2, 6-9pm. Artist in attendance.

Michael Soltis is an American/Canadian abstract visual artist. His work has been exhibited in private and public galleries in Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Laguna Beach, Salt Lake City, Calgary and Vancouver, and is included in collections worldwide. He has been featured in national magazines and publications, as well as many feature film and television productions. This year marks his fifth solo exhibition.

This series represents over of a year of the artists most personally focused and explorative artwork to date. In approaching each piece, the goal was to not edit, but to create with complete inhibition, to follow his intuition and ignore the impulse to question.

Soltis states, “It can be easy to fall into the trap of creating to sell - creating to please other people. And when this happens the true enjoyment of the process diminishes and the work may not go in the direction it could have.”

This exhibition is dynamic in its range, as Michael pushed himself in two contrary directions to explore either “how much” or “how little” could be applied to a selected work. In some pieces he incorporated numerous elements and techniques to explore the idea of excess, evaluating how much a piece could handle without tipping the work out of balance and into chaos. In other works he explored the idea of less is more and how to find moments of simplicity and learn to trust them as being “enough”.

Michael says, “At this stage of my career I am interested in truly listening to my instincts and trusting myself. Ironically when I first started painting I found this to be quite easy. But as I’ve gotten more established various influences have at times, muddied my motivations.”

This show represents an openness to explore but is also quite vulnerable for Michael because buried within the pieces are details and components that speak to the core of who he is. In an effort to communicate this openness and vulnerably, the show is untitled as it was important for the artist to not steer the experience of the viewer.