Artist's Statement

My hope in making artwork is to express a deep respect and sense of wonder for the beauty of the natural world and our place within it. Creating a new work, whether it be a painting, print, or some other form of art, begins with an idea that often evolves into something other than what was originally intended. Over time, I have learned to value how the art process itself enables me to shape the very ideas I hope to express. As Picasso said,

"A picture is not thought out and settled beforehand. While it is being done it changes as one's thoughts change." 

Printmaking is my favorite medium for exploring art process. Through it, I find myself discovering combinations of imagery that together tell a new story or express a new concept. The process of printmaking often brings me back to a child-like sense of wonder about the "how and why" of things.

In other works, I seek to determine the role we play as human kind within the natural world. Today, satellite technology offers us new perspectives on our world. Not only does it expose how we impact the natural environment, but it also reveals nature's powerful impact on us. Like yin yang, these forces appear contrary at first, but after more careful inspection can be seen as interconnected and interdependent. Visually, they appear to me as two different sets of aesthetics. Therein lies the challenge to depict balance between the two.

~ Michael McEwing