Growing up Rochester, New York, Graham Yarrington's work is informed by his childhood surroundings - “lots of open space and trees” - manifested in highly imaginative ink and gouache landscapes. Though his work is at times bright and fantastical, the stuff of daydreams and Grimm’s fairy tales, there is also a darkness that the artist can’t shake.
“I’ve always found that painting is the best therapy. I think that sadness and struggle will always play an important role in my growth as an artist.”
Yarrington’s images are haunted by mysterious shadowy giants and animal spirits, who navigate a world ripe with religious symbolism: totems, sacred objects, and Celtic tree knots, wrapped around rainbow-colored geodes or stones. “I’m not religious, but I think there are some religious themes that will be forever embedded in my subconscious as a result of being raised in a religious home. I think the combination of some sort of moral code with the downright creepy has always resonated with me.”
Graham is a graduate of Pratt Institute currently living and working in Brooklyn.
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