Contemporary Art

BIOGRAPHY

Michael McFadden is a fine artist, master  craftsman, and educator. A native of Fort Wayne, Indiana, Mr. McFadden  studied at Carleton College, Purdue University and the University of  Wisconsin where he received his MFA. In 1978 he established an art  studio and fine furniture workshop in the Tribeca area of New York City.  In 1987 Michael and his wife Doris Ettlinger, also an artist and  educator, moved their studios to an 18th Century grist mill in western  New Jersey where they raised their two children, Ivy and Benjamin.  Recently Michael retired from teaching engineering, architecture, and  fine art at Hunterdon Central High School.Michael’s images are inventions based on memory and imagination. He  transforms his personal experience of poignant events and shared  experiences into abstract images. Michael’s paintings are constructed  from a personalized vocabulary of marks and shapes. He creates a visual  environment that invites exploration. His color harmonies, composition,  and calligraphic brush work result in expressive, high contrast images  that engage the viewer through shared impressions and experience. 

STATEMENTPROCESS-How I make art. Click here for a studio visit video.When an idea or image captures my imagination, I  save it in a sketch. If an idea has potential, I develop it using more  sketches and collages. I use collage as a means for expression and  discovery, it helps me find what I otherwise might not imagine.Using ink and watercolor on rice paper fragments I  build a vocabulary of abstract parts. I use the parts to find the  images and build the composition. My work is the product of many  decisions. It is through my choices that I find and express myself. I  value honesty and transparency as I make these choices.I favor intuition, improvisation and accidental  discovery while composing. As the image develops the parts are glued  into place to form a structure for the painting. The collage may be part  of a painting or the subject of a painting.Casein, oil paint or Flashe are used to create the painting on linen, canvas, or wood.

SUBJECTS - What do I paint?My work is often based on traditional or personal themes.The images in my work are invented using memory and imagination.Motivated by personal experience, my paintings build on my memory of poignant places and experiences.I work with subjects which I experience emotionally whether they are poignant or mundane.My goal is to transform these experiences into expressive abstract images. Influenced by Latin American authors of Magic  Realism, my paintings are meant to evoke emotions and intensify memory  by compressing time and space. They are unfinished stories that that  evolve, completed by the viewer's associations.

WHY -  Do I paint?I paint for knowledge and pleasure. I am happiest  when using my mind and my hands. I use my mind to develop questions   that my hands can solve. The challenge I enjoy most is to make  something out of nothing.My emotional response to places and events  motivates me to re-imagine them in poignant objects. The riverside  environment where I work often provides inspiration. I also enjoy  reimagining traditional themes, like a jazz musician playing standards.