"Painting is the closest thing to magic that exists in the real world. In painting I’m able to create space, shift time, and defy gravity—all with the flick of a wrist. In painting I can conjure the hidden worlds that dwell within me and pour them out for all to see. This internal magical world takes shape in the real world. The conditions of my life affect the form this ether takes in the here and now.

My influences are a mixture of the art historical, metaphysical, and personal: from the cartoons and comics books I absorbed as a kid to my experience in this world as a 30-year-old gay man who has looked at a lot of art. The resulting paintings shift between abstract and figurative. Hands appear to welcome you into a vivid world but morph into a barrier made of paint as you approach."

Andrew Holmquist (BFA 2008, MFA 2014) was a recipient of the Carrie Ellen Tuttle Fellowship.