Charmaine Ortiz was born and raised in North Carolina. She completed her MFA in Painting in 2010 from Savannah College of Art and Design. She lives and works in Carolina Beach, NC.

Statement: Abstraction, in its conceptual departure from traditional representation, grants creative priority to the natural unfolding of materiality and form. My work uses this unfolding dynamic to expose the essence of traditional subjects: the still life and the landscape. To reveal this attribute, I develop detailed linear descriptions of natural forms and environments using graphite media on wood and Mylar.

To expose and reveal, I deconstruct the natural forms and environments using schematic linear systems including mixed perspectives, cross contouring, and cross sectioning. Emphasizing their dimensionality with the painterly qualities of a traditional drawing medium, I observe and recompose linear elements within my subjects. I represent my subjects by initially creating source material through observation. Using these materials as a starting point, my work proceeds through the incorporation of my reactions to the subjects and to the graphite material. I use this process of structure assimilation and material reaction to transcend the initial moment of interaction to expose the multifaceted essence of my subjects. This attribute is revealed by the linear systems that expose the subject’s physical structure and simulate the reality of its movable space.