A subtle Shift in Our Perception: Mike Witmer & Matt Allyn Chapman

A Subtle Shift in Our Perception: 
Mike Witmer & Matt Allyn Chapman

Seeing, vision, observation and perception may seem like four terms that describe the same thing. Though for artists Mike Witmer and Matt Allyn Chapman, they ask that you provide each the time and consideration they need to be individual actions before merging them together as we so often do.

The artworks in this exhibition offer new elements of experience the longer you stay with them. The slightest change in color may be in truth the meeting of two different tones, or multiple values coming together at an intersection. They may also be the introduction of shadow, a rounded corner, or an indentation in the surface, leading you to believe they are different when they are in fact the same. It all comes down to perception. When we look, are we using our vision, or are we “seeing”? When we observe something, are we making assumptions from past experience, or are we allowing space for new meetings and understanding?

In addition to time, both artists ask that you interact with their works as you come to know them. Physically move from side to side, change your proximity by getting close then stepping back. These actions reflect the same ones used in their creation. New discoveries and revelations are found with each new way you approach these artworks.
They are exactly what they seem while seemingly something else all together. 

At its core this is a collection of works celebrating color, and how the use of a limited palette can yield boundless results. A change in stroke direction, one coat vs. two, dilution and saturation, even different manufacturers can turn a single color into multiple. Changes in the physical landscape of the surface and those that are purely optical play with how we make sense of what our eyes are seeing and what our minds are perceiving. There is illusion in the truth of these pieces, they can be playfully serious and champion the minimal in ways that satisfy the academic and excite the expressionist.

Finding appreciation in the slow down and reverence in the unique conversations we have with abstraction, it is our desire to share that which we discover for ourselves that brought us together in this place. Witmer and Chapman have found an incredibly strong connection in their mutual fascination with nuance, and their respect for the subtle shifts in our perception.

MIKE WITMER

My works are an invitation for the viewer to engage and observe over time and appreciate color interactions and relationships to space and surroundings. The emphasis of all of the work is on the perceptual and optical. Most of the work is painting (oil paint on canvas) but I also like to make other objects that demonstrate concepts involving painting and seeing. The recent works explore the interaction between color and light. The surfaces are made in a way to interact in a room and register subtle changes of light, warm and cool, even the passing of a cloud.

Mike Witmer studied at The Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore and The Pennsylvania School of the Arts in Marietta PA. He is a lifelong resident of Lancaster County and has a studio in Salunga, PA.

MATT ALLYN CHAPMAN

I find the elements of my work in the observations made as I move through life. Often creating metaphors and assigning symbols to the gestural marks, shapes, colors, and actions that make up my artwork. The subtle interactions of mediums, shifts in line-weight, hard and soft edges, and points of intersection are endlessly interesting and extremely valuable to me. I wish for my work to move beyond an initial scan of the eye and find its mark deeper in the place where we hold court with our thoughts and converse internally with how we think and feel.

Chapman studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia (MFA) as well as Lancaster’s Pennsylvania College of Art & Design (BFA). He currently lives in Lancaster PA where keeps his studio and works as Co-Owner of curio. Gallery & Creative Supply. He is also a member of the Echo Valley Art Group, serves on the Board of Trustees for the Demuth Foundation & Lancaster Museum of Art, and is a Professor of Drawing in the Foundation & Fine Arts Departments at Pennsylvania College of Art & Design (PCA&D)