Hello. This blog post is talking about the various artists who make up my “family tree” and make similar art to me or are attempting to talk about similar ideas.
This first artist I found relatable was Lisa Beck. She and I seemed to have stumbled upon some really similar ideas completely independently. 
Her work deals with positive and negative space and has very planetary and space-y vibes. Here’s a quote from her website:
“My work has always been driven by certain preoccupations and obsessions, that can be seen as divided between the particular and the universal. The particular is shorthand for the observable aspects of reality, the stuff around us (the landscape, our bodies). The universal is a shorthand for things that are too vast or too tiny for us to grasp completely ( space, atomic physics)— that necessarily become a kind of abstraction. Those are the things that I think about, with an emphasis on the relationship between those things — the place where they meet or interact, rather than the divide. I’m concerned with where I stand, or where anyone stands, in relation to these aspects of existing reality … the act of observation of the place in between; visual awareness and perception as a way of understanding existence, like a filter.
“I tend to be attracted to opposing but related visual phenomena like positive and negative, pattern and randomness, color and grayscale, flatness and depth, representational and abstract imagery. I always want to go in both directions a once and much of my work has involved trying to find ways to integrate these opposites. My most prevalent motif has been the circle in all its forms and references. Atoms, dots, spheres, solids, voids, cells, selves, stars, eternity, emptiness- it’s amazing how much can attach to this form.”
The next artist I chose was Alex Paik. He uses paper folding and cutouts to create experiences of sculptural depth.
His artist statement from his website:
“Alex Paik is a Brooklyn-based artist whose work explores perception, reflected color, and improvisation within structure, taking cues and ideas from contrapuntal music and post-minimalism. His work has been shown at galleries and art fairs nationally and internationally.”
The final artist I felt like was part of my family tree is
Her artist statement from a different website(her website didn’t have one):
“Jennifer Guidi creates paintings notable for their luminosity, texture, and sculptural presence. Her swirling, mandala-like compositions oscillate in color and texture, inspiring shifts in perceptual awareness to forge new sensory horizons. Each painting is methodically executed through a unique process—at once systematic and organic—which reflects the connection of her painting practice to strains of Minimalism that privilege attention to detail and repetition. Her sculptural markings evoke an intensely meditative sense of narrative and spiritual votive. Guidi’s richness of palette and trademark use of sand as a medium link her mode of abstraction to tactile experiences of the natural world, from light permeating the landscape at dawn to the hazy atmospheric conditions of the West Coast.”