George Duncan - contemporary abstract

Artist Statement:

Upon viewing my art, people say they are drawn in, provoking deeper seeing and thinking. Perhaps this characteristic stems from my study at the University of Chicago of how the arts interplay with the sciences. Or perhaps from my excitement viewing works at the Art Institute of Chicago. Certainly in my first career as a professor of statistics, I saw patterns in data abstracted from life that were informative about structure, but also beautiful and imaginative. Now as an artist—for my second career—I continue this search for imaginative and beautiful patterns. In communicating these, I have been blessed with technique and artistic judgment learned from accomplished artist/teachers.

I express the tension between geometric forms, colors and textures through architectural surrealism, suggesting the mystery of chaotic complexity contained with a structure of rigorous formality. Impressed with their range and flexibility, my instruments are acrylic and mixed media on canvas and clay board. Based in Santa Fe, I am inspired by the color and form of nature’s architecture in the Southwest and how its inhabitants have interacted with it.

I have exhibited on the Santa Fe Art Studio Tour and been juried into New Mexico venues. My work is displayed in collections at universities including Brigham Young, Carnegie Mellon, and Iowa State. My collectors live in fourteen states, plus England and Spain.