SCOTT FINCH

When I made my first automatic drawing at the age of six, I was astonished to discover that images and ideas unknown to my conscious mind could come through a pencil. A few stray marks would lead to a narrative scene as my hand moved thoughtlessly without pause. At the time I did not think of this as self discovery, it functioned much more as a method of self soothing. Drawing turned down the blaring volume of the surrounding world and allowed me to hear a muted inner voice.

Over the years that I have exhibited giant brightly painted hard edge expressions of that big blaring world, and I have made small murky mysterious abstractions with hints of light in caves of interior darkness. My drawings and collages of the last five years express the desire to create a visual relationship between these two realms. This project has often taken inspiration from mythic underworld journeys like The Popol Vuh, the Orphic legends, and the Gnostic Hymn of the Pearl. These stories and many others emphasize the aching compulsion to find wholeness in the depths, and the troubles associated with carrying anything back to the light of day.

I have published two graphic novels that explore this subject. One is A Little World Made Cunningly (Regent Press) and the other is Form and Deed (Self Published). A point of personal pride is that A Little World Made Cunningly is recommended by the primary source for online Gnostic studies, gnosis.org.

The other two bodies of work that I have continuously developed during this period are meticulously worked scratchboards and a group of more spontaneous automatic drawings and collages. Most recently this led to the sticker boom project, Cheer, Charm, and Life, that features drawings collages to cereal boxes.

I find that moving between these very different approaches has helped keep my work from growing too repetitive, laborious, or shallow. Ideas uncovered in the making of the scratchboards often opens the floodgates of free drawing, and loose line sketches sometimes reveals an idea suggestive of a more protracted examination in scratchboard.

While this work is a deeply personal project of self examination, it would be meaningless without the feedback loop of context and community provided by the Baton Rouge Gallery. It is extremely important to me to have this place where I can connect with people who care and understand the necessity of art.

-Scott Finch

Scott Finch lives and draws in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Other titles include A Little World Made Cunningly (2013, Regent Press), Form and Deed (2014, self-published), and Cheer, Charm, Life (2020, Antenna).

ARTIST MEMBER SINCE 2002

BACHELOR OF FINE ARTS (PAINTING & DRAWING), LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY

MASTER OF FINE ARTS (PAINTING & DRAWING), TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AT TEMPLE UNIVERSITY