Greg Green's paintings on exhibit at Reflection Gallery through March 21

Artist Greg Green is exhibiting large, colorful paintings like this one at Finlandia's Reflection Gallery through March 21. (Photo © 2008 Gustavo Bourdieu)

HANCOCK -– The student-run Reflection Gallery at Finlandia University’s Portage Campus is hosting an exhibit of work by local artist Greg Green through March 21. An opening reception and gallery talk will be held at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 6, in the Gallery.

Included in the show are several of Green’s large, colorful paintings. Green says the paintings are about a natural process of painting and the finding of one's true nature.

"I work from scratch with no concrete plan and follow a series of problem solving moves," Green explains. "I throw myself in the middle of the lake and am forced to swim out. The result is a trail of creative processes, letting the corrections show. Hopefully keeping contrived ego moves at bay, I am showing my true nature or the rhythm of nature."

This painting by Greg Green, titled "Rabbit meet Bunnies," is mixed media on canvas. (Photo © 2008 Michele Bourdieu)

Artist Joyce Koskenmaki says Green is a master abstract painter.

"His work is full of soul," Koskenmaki notes. "The way he approaches his paint process, keeping the spontaneity of the moment, totally present to the work, is very Zenlike. I admire him greatly for being able to do that. He is in touch with mystery. Each work celebrates it, in its own way. Viewers who are unfamiliar with this way of working find that the work 'grows on you' and continues to release its energy. This work bears revisiting, more than once."

Green says his most recent work is about "living out of your heart and not your head."

Several of the paintings are mixed media on canvas. Green said these can include fabric, charcoal, oils or house paint. He shops at the St. Vincent de Paul second-hand store for fabric that he selects for color, pattern and sometimes a "vintage" look.

This mixed media painting has a three-dimensional look. (Photo © 2008 Gustavo Bourdieu)

Green is a resident of Keweenaw County and works as Assistant Manager of the Keweenaw Co-op in Hancock. He has a Master in Fine Arts (MFA) degree from the University of Minnesota.

The Reflection Gallery is located in the Finlandia School of Art and Design, on the second floor of the old hospital, 200 Michigan Street, Hancock.

For additional information, please contact Finlandia studio arts associate professor Yueh-mei Cheng at 906-487-7375.