John Gardner
Sauquoit, New York
Artist John Gardner creates meticulously crafted collages from vintage textbooks, magazines, found papers, and embroidery, transforming them into surreal scenes that feel both cinematic and otherworldly. "I typically work on four collages at a time," says John. His organized studio is filled with bins of carefully collected reference materials and art-making supplies. He cuts and shapes each piece by hand, building precise compositions on heavy watercolor paper with archival materials. His works balance clean aesthetics with imaginative narratives, inviting the viewer to consider the relationships between shapes, figures, and fragments of the past. John lives and works in upstate New York, where the Adirondack landscape continues to inspire his work. Outside the studio, he enjoys hiking, biking, kayaking, and spending time with his wife and two daughters, as well as working on his family’s organic farm.
Artist Statement
My mixed-media works explore my relationship to the natural world through drawing, painting, and collage. I find inspiration in the quiet structures of landscapes, patterns in nature, and geological formations. Each piece begins with an intuitive response to color, texture, and form. Hand-painted papers, printed fragments, and precisely cut shapes become the foundation for compositions that hover between the organic and the architectural. Layered surfaces suggest shifting terrains, floating environments, and imagined ecosystems, while stitched and drawn lines introduce a sense of connection, tension, and movement across the planes.
I am drawn to the patterns, rhythms, and inherent order of nature, which I interpret through essential forms and fragments rather than recognizable scenes. Circles become celestial bodies, angled shapes suggest cliffs or crystals, and networks of lines evoke constellations, root systems, or structural frameworks. By reducing elements of the natural world to geometry, I explore the underlying systems that shape our environments and invite viewers to contemplate the quiet architecture around them.
These works explore the balance between precision and play. Hard geometric edges interact with the softness of textured surfaces, creating a tension between control and spontaneity. Through this process, I map memory, observation, and imagination into visual spaces that feel both grounded and otherworldly.
I am drawn to the patterns, rhythms, and inherent order of nature, which I interpret through essential forms and fragments rather than recognizable scenes. Circles become celestial bodies, angled shapes suggest cliffs or crystals, and networks of lines evoke constellations, root systems, or structural frameworks. By reducing elements of the natural world to geometry, I explore the underlying systems that shape our environments and invite viewers to contemplate the quiet architecture around them.
These works explore the balance between precision and play. Hard geometric edges interact with the softness of textured surfaces, creating a tension between control and spontaneity. Through this process, I map memory, observation, and imagination into visual spaces that feel both grounded and otherworldly.
Artist Background
University of Oregon
Master of Fine Arts, 2010
SUNY Potsdam
Bachelor of Fine Arts, 2007
Press
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