Patrick Pryor is interested in what paint can do, and he’s interested in the process of discovery that painting allows. In his landscape and seascape horizon works, he’s constrained his practice by allowing only horizontal marks to create his images. By doing this he force himself to explore the possibilities in the horizontal mark and particularly by pulling the paint across the canvas surface with a plastic wedge. Pryor build up many layers and periodically sanded the surface to keep it as smooth as possible. He also adds finely ground pumice to transparent layers and to the paint layers to create a deceptive surface that appears highly textured and waxy, but is very smooth. Throughout his career, Pryor has won many awards and prizes in various painting and art shows. Each piece of his artwork showcases his feelings about the subject. He uses his art as a means of communication with his viewers. As a painter, his work forms a place of spontaneous intelligence.
His inspiring pieces of artwork reach out to the heart and soul of many people. He generates bold statements that engage heart and mind by using gesture and color to explore abstract ideas of absurdity, beauty and humor. That’s why many private and public collectors stock them. A former science educator and environmental engineer, Pryor draws from that experience by abstracting patterns and forms from the natural world. Installations of his work that are site-specific have appeared in more than 140 locations in Canada and Minnesota. He’s worked in video and film, and with dancers, fashion designers and other visual artists.
