Thirteen Stripes (Flying with the Avetts) Print

Michael Roller’s colorful abstracts are the result of rational, orderly processes carried out in an expressive style. He often uses simple algorithms to dictate many of his formal choices—colors, tools, scale. This approach explores the paradox between constraints and creativity in an effort to bring to life the usefulness of habit and routine. Routines were disrupted and reinvented over the past year. During the pandemic, Roller created daily studies based on gratitude from the previous day. To express the long-term results of this practice (and not just a moment in time), this piece is layered, stacked, and recombined in a different ways. These pieces act as visual diagrams that document the practice of gratitude—a collection of small behaviors that work together to change the brain and reshape emotions. This piece was created while flying home over the west coast, listening to music by the Avett Brothers.