Paul Sattler
Artist Statement

To make this new group of work, three components were consistently present:

1. A resounding awareness of visual phenomena in the natural world (light, space, colors, patterns, textures)
2. My deep enchantment with arts and images of the past (including, for this group of work, wood engravings from Tudor London)
3. A restored infatuation with the paints, tools, techniques and rituals of the art studio.

These three elements filtered through my personal history to invent painted worlds that strive to hold tension between reality and imagination. Sometimes this business lays bare the stuff you just don’t want to see or let anyone else see, but if the name of the game is a total, truthful commitment without irony and distance, then one should not be surprised by darkness in mood or complexity in theme. My hope is that, despite the darkness, the painting may still marshal a life-affirming disposition.

Paul Sattler, Short Bio

While his work is primarily figurative, an abiding passion for light, space, and color guides Paul Sattler’s work. Visual phenomena of the natural world, a strong engagement with art history, and a love for the tools and techniques of the studio motivate his paintings, while aspects of his personal history provide a framework for invention.

Sattler received his MFA from Indiana University at Bloomington in 1994 and his BFA from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1991. His work has been shown extensively in this region and beyond, including exhibitions at Alpha Gallery in Boston and at Gerald Peters Gallery in New York. Sattler has been teaching drawing and painting at Skidmore College since 1998, and currently holds the Ella Van Dyke Tuthill Chair in Art, an endowed chair awarded to art faculty who have distinguished themselves in the studio.