Biography

John Bianchi’s work is motivated by a psychological exploration of trauma, bringing to life paintings and sculptures that seek to re-contextualize the destructive process as an act of regeneration and growth. Shades of mauve, ash and beige populate his panels in patterns reminiscent of bruises, fluid compositions that ebb and flow in intensity in much the same way as these contusions present themselves on the human body.
Using a combination of industrial and traditional materials, the artist creates works that occupy a flexible space between painting and sculpture. His panels are built of aluminum mounted on wood stretchers, which are often shaped into three-dimensional geometries that conjure paper folding into itself. This quality is heavily contrasted with the deliberately flat texture of the paintings themselves, whose surfaces evoke the smooth and burnished matte of a photograph. This visual quality is attained through the application of multiple layers of acrylic paint, which are then sanded and reapplied in an intuitive, kinetic process.
For Bianchi, trauma has the unique potential to be a transformative event. His work seeks to convey the constructive nature of physical harm as the beginning of a restorative cycle. The systemic regeneration that invariably accompanies injury underpins the demonstrative intention of his bruised panel series. In his own words, “by giving permanence to the fleeting moment of the bruise, I want to open up a new possibility for reflection on it and that which it symbolizes.”