John Monn

What Is My Work About? 

Artist Statement

Drawing has always been the first and most immediate way I find expression. After years of pointillism, with slow deliberate accumulation of detail, I arrived at a new plateau with a different viewpoint. This changed the way I think about constructing a piece.  Representational works on paper with ink dots evolved into the ammunition of testosterone-fueled suburban youth: airsoft BBs.

In this body of work plastic ammunition is aggressively thrown to form shot-pattern abstractions frozen in time. Each panel has its own unique patterns and characteristics enclosed within epoxy with the suggestion that imperfections reach the visible surface from deeper internal depths. Each BB retains its own origin, its own history, similar to the formation of inclusions in natural gem crystals, and a person accumulating both physical and mental scars throughout a lifetime.

The technicality in the Ammunition Paintings stems from years working and learning with my parents in their jewelry store and photo lab. Gemstone grading and in-line silver collection systems, specifically, have heavily influenced the thought process in this body of work.

Vivid gem-tone colors painted over mirror silver metal coatings act as internally-flawed filters to allow the viewer to actually see themselves and their surroundings, maybe conjuring up thoughts of self-reflection.

CV