Biography
Patrick K. Pryor creates works in which paint and form accrete into dynamic compositions that convey a sense of movement, life, and potential. A self-taught artist, Pryor embraces the intuitive mark-making of Abstract Expressionism and the influence of his own subconscious. In a process that is simultaneously spontaneous and reflective, physical and meditative, he begins each canvas with a series of organic movements that generate unexpected shapes and color combinations that he later refines into more recognizable forms. Bursts of lines softly resemble clouds; spherical nodes suggest the shape of a flower; horizontal bands connote the dimensions of a landscape. The results are paintings that fall just shy of representation—hovering somewhere between waking life and dream.
For his Gala series, Pryor delineated shapes and connections amid vibrant swaths of red, turquoise, orange, and magenta. The finished works present dynamic bands of orbs and spheres that seem almost buoyant. Their relationships evoke atomic and planetary orbits, suggesting cosmic processes of creation. Small flecks of color and free-floating gestures seem to reference energetic fields. The overall effect is one of life being created—of movement and connectivity, of objects attracted to one another through positive gravitational pulls.
The representational ambiguity of Pryor’s paintings not only reflects their origins with his subconscious. It also lends his compositions a feeling of fluidity and interpretative openness. The canvases seem animated, as loose abstract elements vibrate against the more definitive marks that often surround them. Potential narratives float to the surface then dissolve, reconfigure into new thoughts that further transform. Viewers are invited to engage with the works on their own terms, using whatever senses they wish—visual, emotional, psychological, or all three.