Have you met…Don Voisine?

The studio of Don Voisine.

An introduction can be a wonderful thing. You can meet interesting people, and make new friends. You can be introduced to your new favorite foods, books, music, or artist.

I’d like to introduce you to some of my favorite artists. Some of whom I’ve been familiar with for years, and others I’ve only recently been introduced to.

The person I’d like to introduce is the artist Don Voisine.

Step Up, 2013
Oil on wood
12 x 12 inches

Don Voisine is of Acadian descent, and was born in Fort Kent, Maine, and lives in Brooklyn, NY

EDUCATION

1976 Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York
1974 Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, Maine
1973 – 74 Concept Center for Visual Studies, Portland, Maine
1970 – 73 Portland School of Art, Portland, Maine

Tip, 2013
Oil on wood panel
24 x 44 inches

Concerns, themes, etc.:

“Architecture – a language of space – delineates boundaries, exposes points of access, exit or entry, and enables the user to interact with the structure of a defined space. This simple vernacular of architecture informs my paintings. Working with symmetry and a standardized format to reduce variables, I establish borders on all planes. Color activates an apparent void; a reflective surface opens a window into the painting, both mirroring and obscuring the view. Such devices restrict and ultimately reveal the interior spaces, establishing a fluid subjectivity between the viewer and the work.

My earlier paintings were about limits, restrictions, and controlled access. With the introduction of more complex angles, the space becomes charged, resonating with implied speed, curve and thrust. These interactions seem to extend beyond the edges of the picture plane, shifting perceptions of scale and perspective.

I try to counter my own expectations, juxtaposing unlike elements to create an active visual field.  Compositional elements: space, light, color, and form, combine with the perception of the viewer to create an individual and particular experience.”

Evolution of the work:

“Years ago I began working with imagery derived from floor plans of places I lived in or worked in.  Over time the paintings became more and more geometrically structured and less about a specific place.  My work evolved slowly through repeated explorations of variations and form.  I don’t work in series per se but continually on a number of paintings at once with ideas feeding individual paintings back and forth.  Certain features may begin to appear sporadically but a year later those features may have become the prominent areas that the work is exploring.  It’s a long slow back and forth, a give-and-take that isn’t always linear.

In 2006, in addition to working on wood panels, I began painting on small chunks of Styrofoam boards.  Although I use the same type of imagery on both substrates, wood or foam, the Styrofoam paintings maintain a funkier edge, with perhaps less gravitas, and convey a quality of humor not associated with rigorous geometric forms.  Each material, foam or wood, generates ideas for the other.” DV

Usual Light, 2013
Oil on wood
30 x 24 inches

Other material relating to Don Voisine.

Artist website: donvoisine.com

Jame Kalm Roughcut: Don Voisine at MacKenzie Fine Art

Art in America: Don Voisine

The Brooklyn Rail: Don Voisine

Hyperallergic: Don Voisine

Mackenzie Fine Art: Don Voisine

Gregory Lind Gallery: Don Voisine

If you liked this introduction please check out the PREVIOUS and NEXT.