Octopus
Artist: Tyler Vouros
Notes: Gifted by Vouros after his residency at Rockport Center for the Arts. The reference photo for this drawing was taken at the Texas State Aquarium.
Vouros works in charcoal on large pieces of paper. He then cuts the paper down, submerges it in a glue-like mixture, and adheres it to a canvas.
Elena and Tyler graduated New York Academy of Art together in 2011.
Artist bio:
Tyler Vouros creates hyperrealist naturalistic imagery, using charcoal as his medium for drawing and painting. He earned his MFA from the New York Academy of Art, before returning home to the Pioneer Valley where he resides with his wife and two young children. He maintains his studio practice in an old factory building on a canal in Holyoke, MA and is an award-winning educator working in drawing, painting and foundations. He is currently teaching as an Assistant Professor of Art at the Community College of Rhode Island.
His work has been exhibited at venues including: the Richard J. Demato Gallery, The Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, the National Museum of Wildlife Art, Sotheby’s, Flowers Gallery, Neue Leipziger Messe, Rockport Center for the Arts, Collier West Gallery, Pier Sixty Chelsea, Art Miami and Art Southampton, Newington-Cropsey Foundation, Art Institute at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and the Bozeman Art Museum. Appearances in publications include American Art Collector, Fine Art Connoisseur, Western Art Collector, Manifest INDA, Artscope Magazine, and Glasstire Magazine. Other accomplishments include a residency grant in Leipzig, Germany from the NYAA and Villore Foundation, a sponsorship grant from MASS MoCA and a residency at the Rockport Center for the Arts in Rockport, TX. Vouros has completed several special projects and commissions, including a collaboration with Grupo Cortefiel and artwork for French fashion house CHANEL. His work is held in the permanent collections including the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum of Art and private collections throughout the United States and abroad.
Working process statement: “For me, a heavyweight hotpressed watercolor paper is the ideal substrate: it has natural luminosity, it’s smooth but still has a nice tooth, and it can stand up to a bit of abuse. Since I work reductively, I begin my process by toning the entire surface with charcoal, a chamois and large dry brushes, before beginning any detail work. From there, it’s a push/pull dynamic. I introduce more dark layers of a rich velvety compressed charcoal while digging into the fibers of the paper through the use of various erasers and sandpaper to restore areas of light, leaving a soft lustrous glow. There’s something so innately pleasing about the tactile haptic feedback of dragging different implements across a nice sheet of Fabriano.
After nearly 20 years of working with charcoal and paper as my primary medium, I’m still enamored with the inherent simplicity of such elemental materials. For me, it’s full circle: I get to use beautifully versatile supplies originally derived from nature – pressed wood pulp and charred sticks – to represent the natural world”
Artist Statement: "I grew up in a town without a stoplight, in a log home surrounded by wilderness. My work explores visual world-building using flora & fauna, set within old master landscapes. I'm equally driven by creating tactile illusions with the push/pull method of charcoal.
The references come from rescued birds at 'On the Wing' in Epping NH, where their mission is building awareness of raptors, through rehabilitation, educational programs and falconry."
Acquisition Details
Date: May 2019
Cost: gifted
Location: Rockport, TX