About

michael.maier@shaw.ca

I recently heard a quote from a famous method actor who said, “My acting is a combination of anarchy and discipline.” I identify quite strongly with this statement as I have always found myself oscillating between extremes. This began early in my practice, as early as art school, where my images hovered in a world between past and present, artifice and realism, Orient and Occident.

I have always been primarily motivated by formal concerns such as form, anatomy, composition and drawing and have recently become focused on the techniques of the Old Masters. Chiaroscuro, multiple layers of paint, glazing and an obsessive inclination towards naturalistic flesh tones and colour are highly important to me – yet I remain fascinated by popular culture, Pop Art, abstraction and the idea of a ‘camp’ sensibility. Coupled with these interests is an ongoing inner investigation and reflection on the ephemeral nature of all things.