My practice explores the intersections of landscape, mythology, memory, and transformation through painting, drawing, sound, and immersive installations. Rooted in narrative traditions and archetypal symbolism, my work delves into the liminal—where light and shadow, presence and absence, history and myth intertwine. Across large-scale compositions and intimate studies, I seek to conjure environments that are both psychological and cosmic, revealing the unseen forces that shape our perception of reality.
The works engage with long form narrative cycles while navigating the thresholds between the known and the unknowable. My works speak to an omnipresent disquiet, to the restlessness and uncertainty everywhere, forever tentative, indefinite and in transition. I don't propose any beginnings or endings, no solutions are offered, and no utopia is alluded to. I’m interested in what lies just beyond the threshold, in places where boundaries can be tenuous and in the uncomfortable connection between terror and the sublime. My works look to the “hidden”, the “concealed” or the occulted qualities of the world, in places where the darkness has agency and shadows are alive with all our imaginings. The subjects in my drawings operate at the precipice, reaching out before them, seeking to transcend their precarious states, yet ever searching.
In my studio practice, I strive to balance conceptual rigor with aesthetic impact while paying close attention to all aspects of craftsmanship in my work. Additionally, archival practices are of great importance to my process and research. As an artist and educator, this something which I believe serious consideration. My interest in the arts lie in its function as an experiential process of conceptual enquiry that embraces critical thought to build and decode meaning. Through this, I believe that art is uniquely positioned to pose more questions than answers.
I’m interested in using realist painting and drawing to build vignettes of narrative structures within the mise-en-scene. My exhibitions often include multichannel or ambisonic soundscapes as develop into an ominous environment within the gallery. Each work serves as a means of “world building” and visual narrative, capturing the essence of the mythopoetic, or uncanny aesthetic. I employ intricate line work and meticulous details to breathe life into these narratives, infusing them with a sense of mystique and reverence. The use of chiaroscuro and shading creates a play of light and shadow that mirrors the duality often present in superstitions – the balance between good and ill fortune, protection, and vulnerability.
While drawing and painting have notably become the core of my praxis, my creative process is informed by the expanding fields of contemporary fine arts practices. Additionally, sound, photography, video, sculpture, and performance, each speak to a unique mode of inquiry within my work. My use of multi-channel soundscapes amplifies the spectral nature of the work, transforming the experience into something immersive—where echoes of the past and the tremors of the unknown unfold in tandem, creating environments that envelop the viewer in both seen and unseen resonances.
Carl Jung’s exploration of alchemy resonates deeply within my practice, serving as a metaphor for psychological transformation. Just as alchemy seeks to transmute base materials into gold,
my work seeks to distill the complexities of human experience into a deeper understanding of the self. I aim to evoke the alchemical process of merging opposites, highlighting the reconciliation of light and dark, conscious and unconscious. Jung had interpreted alchemy as more as a psychical transformation then a physical one.
At its core, my work is an act of excavation—an attempt to chart the invisible, to unearth the quiet tremors beneath the surface of perception. Painting is not merely an act of depiction but of conjuration—a séance of pigment and surface where the veil between presence and absence is thin. Through an engagement with the sublime, the mythopoetic, and the uncanny, I invite viewers to linger in uncertainty, where history dissolves into memory, and where the boundaries between self, nature, and time unravel into the dark.
Looking forward, I see drawing and painting evolving not only as methods of depiction, but as acts of inquiry—critical, conceptual, and somatic. The future of these practices lies in their fluidity: where analog and digital coexist, where materiality meets metaphor, and where mark- making becomes a form of thinking. Foundations of drawing will continue to expand into hybrid terrains—mapping thought, memory, and speculation in equal measure. As we face ecological, technological, and psychological shifts, drawing becomes a witness and a response: a tactile, intuitive language for navigating uncertainty and imagining alternate futures. I embrace this future by treating the drawn or painted image not as resolution, but as portal—an open-ended threshold that invites us to see, feel, and remember differently.
Ultimately, my intention is to cultivate a space for exploration, where viewers can engage with their own narratives and recognize the richness of their inner worlds. In this shared journey, we can uncover the profound connections we share through our stories, and the transformative potential that arises from embracing the full spectrum of our psyche’s potential, revealing the inner landscapes we traverse in pursuit of identity, self-discovery and transformation.
5-17-25
Adam Gabriel Winnie