Macyn Bolt

About

Macyn Bolt is an American abstract painter. Using a visual language informed by geometric abstraction, he creates artworks that examine how color and form create shifts in visual perception. He lives and works in Brooklyn, NY, and upstate Pennsylvania. Education Bolt graduated with a BFA in 1979 from Calvin College, in Grand Rapids, MI, and earned his Masters of Fine Arts from Syracuse University in 1981. Technique Bolt works with acrylic paint on a variety of surfaces including canvas, wood panel, vinyl and paper. Using scrapers and palette knives, he builds up layers of paint, creating surfaces that seem both polished and handmade. He often strives to achieve heightened areas of contrast, exploring relationships between the painterly and the flat, the loose and the opaque. That contrast is further explored in relationships between colors. His process mirrors the balance he seeks between boldness and delicacy in his compositions. Scale is also an important aspect of his work. His smaller works, which start around 16 x 15 inches, create opportunities for intimate viewer interactions. His larger works, which can range up to 84 x 180 inches, encompass viewers in a contemplative aesthetic space. The differences in size result in a range of perceptual experiences that is integral to the work. Inspiration Bolt is inspired by the " visual riddle " that can be evoked by spatial relationships, as well as the interplay between color and form. His reductive, monochromatic work examines both dramatic and nuanced shifts in visual perception. He is interested in what he calls, " the qualities of reflection and mirroring that are unique to the space of abstract painting ." His work invites viewers into a contemplative experience as they interact with the fluctuating polarities of concrete and illusionary space. Relevant Quotes The gallerist and curator Harry Simon, owner of Simon Gallery in Morristown, New Jersey, wrote about Bolt’s work in 2016, saying: “ These paintings represe