Eric Ketelsen at Bloomington Theatre and Art Center

Eric Ketelsen’s abstract paintings and drawings may, at first glance,  appear to be a series of repetitive lines, but it is the detail happening below and within the layers of each piece that reveal the subtle yet rich variations in tone, texture, color, and gestural mark.

Influenced by Japanese Zen calligraphy, Ketelsen’s work centers on his fascination with the quality of line, mark, and stroke of the brush or pencil. Equally intrigued by the Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi, which recognizes the beauty of the imperfect, Ketelsen states, “I often strive for a look of faded color or an imperfect wash in my work. The small areas of paper or canvas where no paint is deposited by the brush fascinate me.”