Growing up near Minneapolis I was exposed to lots of graffiti, it always caught my eye with the big letters, bold colors and crisp lines.   When I started to create my own artwork, graffiti influenced me by introducing me to the technique of stenciling.  Much like graffiti, my work in stencils allows me to achieve crisp clean lines and bright colors because I can control every element of my paintings from the intricacy of the cuts to the exact color of the spray paint.

The human figure intrigues me. The differences we all can have in shape, color, texture, skin tone, and personality makes each of us unique, and because of this I think portraiture will always be explored in art.  I tend to paint people that are close to me or that have influenced me in some way.  When I cut the stencil my mood or the feel of the painting I’m trying to achieve really affects the cuts that I’m making; this translates into my brushstrokes.  My images can look almost digital and robotic because of the precision of the stencil cuts.  In order to soften this effect and make the image less mechanical, I leave little imperfections in the canvass to show my personal interaction.

When I create art, I try to make things that are beautiful.  An object’s ability to evoke a visceral reaction, positive or negative, is what makes it powerful.  I also make work because it makes me happy, sitting down and cutting stencils for hours and then like magic and a few sprays of paint I have created a beautiful object.

Sean Sauter