RORY ALAN MacLEAN
Rory Alan MacLean was born in Phoenix, AZ. He received a B.F.A. with honors upon graduating from Art Center College of Design, CA., and in 2015 his MFA from Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts. He draws his inspiration as much from dreams as from the external phenomena of experience and nature’s materiality.
“I revel in the flesh. Layers of it caressed and ground into the canvas. Building it up out of earths and metals and pushing it around with the brush, the hand, the knife. I oil it. I give it blood and warmth to release the suppleness of forms. The flesh becoming bodies in a mythological narrative...”
“I revel in the flesh. Layers of it caressed and ground into the canvas. Building it up out of earths and metals and pushing it around with the brush, the hand, the knife. I oil it. I give it blood and warmth to release the suppleness of forms. The flesh becoming bodies in a mythological narrative...”
Bacchante. Oil on linen; 60.9 x 60.9 cm ( 24″ x 24″).
The "tondo" emphasizes the cyclical process at play between Dionysian frenzy and Apollonian order; aspects of creation as undertaken by the artist at the start of an artwork. New beginnings of consciousness (sunlit landscape) derive from instinct (goat) and unfettered inspiration (wine). The Bacchante represents the convergence of these elements.
Sionnaich and the Soul. Oil on linen; 71.1 x 55.8 cm (28″ x 22″).
A self-portrait full of personal symbolism. The foxes (Sionnaich) nestled on and around me represent the sly comfort of self-deception that generates resistance to inner growth. The Anima, awakening behind me, represents the creative force awaiting union. The gold wall alludes to the actualization of that union and the state of pure abandonment to inspiration.
Enlightenment. Oil on linen; 68.5 x 40.6 cm (27″ x 16″).
Groping. Oil on linen; 60.9 x 50.8 cm (24″ x 20″) .