This series of small paintings on panel started as wooden “tiles” that my husband Shamont and I had on our tables at our wedding as part of the centerpiece. All of them were painted with a maroon background – which was an interesting color from which to build a composition. The miniature scale affords me the opportunity to work horizontally and work on several pieces at once. The compositions started as a simple exploration of opposing forces. I started to think about each panel containing a life-form that was captured at an awkward in-between stage…hence the idea of “mid-mutation.”  I’m amused by the idea of mutation and metamorphosis being rather awkward before it becomes beautiful. I love thinking about my art being a representation of a life-form that is so strange we really don’t have the language to describe it yet, and we’re forced to muddle  through. How will we describe the first wiggle of extraterrestrial life under the microscope?  

In technique, these paintings are all about a slow build-up of marks, and the sgraffito lines into puddles of paint.  I remember exploring a variety of additives to the acrylic and being curious about the array of sheens and viscosities I could create. The breakthrough was the joy in discovering all the tools I could tip into paint besides brushes. The panels have an inset cradle on the back which gives the effect of panel floating off the wall when hung. They can be hung alone, in an intimate space, or clustered together to create an inter-play. 

-Jamie Treacy, 2023