Dave Smallen

I’m a visual artist based in Northeast Minneapolis. I work in several different mediums, and for Art-A-Whirl this year I’m showcasing my abstract paintings and illustration.

Abstraction

I was encouraged to paint by my late great-uncle, a working abstract expressionist painter who was active beginning in the 1950s, until his death in 2015. Inspired by color field artists, I like to experiment improvisationally with color, texture, and composition to arrive at an over ‘feel’ for each piece.

By trade I am a research psychologist, currently finishing my PhD dissertation at University of Wisconsin-Madison, and through that lens, I like to think of these paintings as capturing felt emotional experience, the visual language of abstract painting going into finer granularity than mere words to describe feeling. Personally, I find these pieces create a useful visual ground for contemplative practice.

Unique abstract pieces are available in several sizes from my store below.

If you are in the Twin Cities area, we can arrange for curbside pick-up, or I am able to ship pieces if you are at a distance.

Illustration

Recently I’ve found some catharsis from the sociopolitical upheaval in our midst by illustrating heavily patterned scenes that draw stylistically from illuminated manuscripts of the late middle-ages.

These are not available for automatic purchase, you may contact me if you wish to make an inquiry.

Feel free to follow my artistic process on instagram: @davesmallen