About

Scott West a painter from Owatonna, Minnesota works in a variety of mediums creating narratives with a veneer of bold marks and complex compositions.  After graduating from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 1996, West has spent many years as an illustrator and creative director with a focus on bridging the gap between design and fine art. While working commercially West creates studio paintings as well as performs as a live painter / band member in the internationally known experimental indie rock band Cloud Cult. That time spent working commercially honed his technical skills while performing with Cloud Cult built confidence in the immediacy of line, composition, and form. West's canvases capture the dynamic passion of live music with skilled composition mixed with the openness to happy accidents and abstraction. West’s work has been seen by thousands of people from stage and he has exhibited internationally.

As an artist, one of Scott West's main concerns lays in the expressing of process through a layered narrative. He does this not only through painting in front of an audience, but showing process in the paintings themselves. As he builds up a piece, West leaves areas open to reveal what is underneath, acknowledging every layer of the painting. These acknowledged layers create their own narrative. They tell the story of the artist's journey through the work. Fragments of pencil lines, paint drips, and fields of under-painting are all visible in West's best work. He leaves a map to his entire process thus creating a narrative beyond the immediate subject.