Hi, my name is Grant Blades. I have an AA degree from SMC and am currently finishing my degree in Visual Art at UCSD.

My current work has been utilizing un-stretched canvas. Cutting and sewing canvas together creates an environment to paint on that is formed intuitively, and painted the same way. I choose these materials because I believe it informs what I will create, and it also adds a layer to how my bodies of work tie together. For me, it introduces an element of craft that separates some of my work from the conventions of painting. Conceptually I am working through the idea of double meanings, semiotic slippage, and deconstructionism.

Revealing how something was put together by hand feels important. It is not only cathartic to make, but also distinctly reflective of myself and my subjective view on shapes and icons. I believe art acts as a reflection of its creator– their interests, what haunts or delights them, and their identity. By sourcing my shapes and abstraction process from how I have viewed the world these qualities reveal themselves. Like clouds, where the viewer has to make sense of what they are looking at, I want to present my sensation of forms in a similar manner--stimulating the imagination and leading to new discoveries of how ambiguous forms can be interpreted and engaged with. I am creating an experience where the viewer of my paintings and their enjoyment of it takes precedent over a concise message.