Brent Wadden

Brent Wadden began his artistic training as a painter, but over the past seven years has established an extensive body of abstract woven work that he continues, very intentionally, to describe as paintings. Through their repeated geometric shapes and symmetry, Wadden’s paintings present formal and conceptual references to modernist abstraction, while simultaneously challenging the conventions of weaving. As a self-taught weaver, Wadden’s process is exploratory, laborious and purposefully naïve.
The works disclose this duality between the visual rhythm of a machine, and the disruptive trace of the handmade. Wadden’s choice of materials furthers his complex approach to this traditional art form. Working almost entirely with pre-used fibers purchased from Ebay, Craigslist and thrift shops, the artist is often short of the amount he needs, and frequently compensates with near matching filler. This attitude of “make do and mend” is one Wadden had long observed from the small communities of his native Nova Scotia, where many folk artists worked with only materials they had directly at hand.
Recent solo presentations include Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver curated by Kimberly Phillips, and Peres Projects, Berlin. Wadden also participated in a number of group exhibitions including at the Rubell Family Collection, Miami, and the Museum of Modern Art, Gunma.