Artist Bruce Noel Mortenson, a Downer's Grove native, has a unique 'Alice in Wonderland' approach to his art. His work, currently on display at Johnsonese Gallery, 2149 W. Armitage, blends the abstract and real worlds in a cornucopia of whimsical images.
Check out Mortenson's large-scale, carnival-like paintings in his solo exhibition titled 'Biomorphic Rhythms.'
Windy City Times: When did you first start getting into art?
Bruce Noel Mortenson: As far back as I can remember, I've been an artist. I've always embraced all arts, especially the visual arts. I grew up in a family in which my father was an artist. So, as a little boy, I watched my father make art. Somehow, that became part of myself and I could remember, at less than nine years old, knowing that I was going to be an artist. I think a lot of fathers always want their sons or daughters to be an architect or a doctor. Well, my father wanted me to be an artist, which is absurd! It hasn't been the easiest ride.
WCT: You say in your artist's statement that you combine the internal and external worlds in your work. Can you talk a little bit more about your creative process and where your art comes from within you?
BNM: My art is ultimately inspired by the things I see in the real world, although they seem to come through in a very abstract, spontaneous and whimsical way. I really like working from my head quite a bit, and I also incorporate what I see in the outside world. When you look at my work, it gets you to look a little further, and you start seeing things that are familiar with you.
WCT: I realized that each time I look at one of your pieces, like if I come back to it the next day, I see different things.
BNM: That's exactly what I like. That is the way I see the world. There are so many ways to interpret things around you. Through imagination, you can see things in a completely new light every time you look at experiences in life and, you know, the beauty around you.
WCT: Do you just sit down and pump out your work, or is it something that you come back to later and add?
BNM: Well, this is the fun part. I am just extremely playful and inventive in my approach. I go through hundreds of thumbnail sketches for each shape. What I do with my larger pieces is make a model with the same colors I want to use, and I project the piece on a larger scale and reproduce my model. Out of that, I play with these shapes. I stretch them out more, contort them, add imagery that I'd like to place in shapes, or put little shimmers of reality in my playful shapes. So, it actually is a combing of the abstract world and the real world. I'm a little biased on the abstraction. I just love the melody, rhythm and beauty of pure abstraction. I try to be as animated as I can, because I think a work of art has to be this lively, exciting and imaginative entity that sparks you every time you look at it. Art should not be boring.
Call 773-252-8750 or see www.johnsonese.com for gallery hours.