Shelly Madruga

In my work, I create large scale paintings using fast, flowing marks and layers of grounded tone upon tone.

I explore gestural movement to create assertive abstract artwork. Inky tones and earthy colors fill the canvas with textured, transparent layers scraping away to reveal what was once impressed upon the canvas. A sweeping score. A flash of a stroke made with a carpenter’s trowel. A deceptively simple composition. My work is bold and unapologetic. Aggressively calm. Dynamic. Honest.

Rejecting physical form and influenced by Brancusi’s geometric shapes, I confidently place one hue next to another to pull the viewer into the painting. My work is both urgent and quiet at the same time. A dichotomy of feelings. A layering of emotion.