Young American Painting

Michael Steinbrick was born and raised in Newark, New Jersey. He obtained his BFA with a concentration in painting from Montclair State University. He also spent time studying abroad at the Constantijn Huygens Academie in the Netherlands. After school, he honed his painting skills working as a scenic painter and muralist in New York, New Jersey, and Chicago. About My Process My creative process happens on different levels of consciousness. I have learned to rely on a higher level of my mind to orchestrate this process, trusting my intuition to guide me when photographing and selecting the images which I recreate. This part of the process is very much feeling based and extrasensory, and partly unconscious. Many of my decisions are made from this other realm. I then use my conscious brain to deal with the problem-solving involved in the complexities of photorealism. My logical brain breaks down the images to the most abstract elements and recreates them, using various painting techniques. I have learned that when I use my logic for technical application, I create a space where I am able to channel an energy from higher consciousness. Often the viewer will experience that energy in my work’s presence. Because I deconstruct my images to pure abstraction, I no longer view them as photorealism, but rather abstract photorealism. Ultimately my paintings reflect a spiritual experience, a moment where a higher level of consciousness takes over the logical translation of what the eye is seeing. About the Vortex Series This series explores the distortion of reality, as the viewer is presented with the unlimited abstraction, resulting from the combination of the frenetic New York City streets, and rain on a car’s windshield. The paintings are in a constant state of metamorphosis, as the reflective lights and color begin to dance with seemingly solid structures and forms.