Based in Columbia, South Carolina, Scotty Peek creates paintings that use the landscape as a point of departure for abstraction. In “Land,” each brushstroke informs the next as paint is applied, pushed, and pulled across the canvas, allowing each painting to emerge through an intuitive process of looking, responding and discovery.
"I've started to think of myself as a non-objective painter who needs a touch of reality to anchor the chaos," says Scotty. Working with this mindset allows his paintings to retain a sense of mystery and uncertainty. "I need each painting to have a reason to exist beyond an accurate depiction—maybe a visceral feeling, a unique identity, or a nonsensical surprise."
Every painting begins with either direct observation of the landscape or a reference image drawn from the places and scenes of his everyday life. "My paintings are a reflection of the things I see throughout my day that beg to be painted," says Scotty.
Scotty currently teaches art at Heathwood Hall Episcopal School in Columbia. Prior to joining the Heathwood faculty, he served as Assistant Professor of Art at South Carolina State University, held positions ranging from Preparator to Assistant Director at several South Carolina museums and galleries, and taught studio art at both the University of South Carolina and Midlands Technical College.
"Dash," acrylic on canvas, 40 by 30 inches
"Two Ways," acrylic on canvas, 48 by 72 inches
"Fence," acrylic on canvas, 36 by 36 inches
"Golden Green," acrylic on canvas, 48 by 48 inches
"Tall," acrylic on canvas, 60 by 48 inches
"Camellia," acrylic on canvas, 36 by 36 inches
"Lilac Pond," acrylic on canvas, 36 by 36 inches
"Stratford," acrylic on canvas, 16 by 20 inches
Scotty Peek is a painter living in Columbia, SC. His abstracted landscapes are started from life or photos, but usually the references are abandoned to focus on how the painting functions as a non-representational painting. “I appreciate the marks within a work of art, including the initial mistakes, accidents, and other struggles left visible even as parts of the representational image become more clarified,” says Scotty. With his paintings, he aims to find a balance between representation and non-representation.
Scotty currently teaches Art at Heathwood Hall Episcopal School. Prior to joining the Heathwood faculty, Scotty was an Assistant Professor of Art at South Carolina State University, held positions from Preparator to Assistant Director at several South Carolina Museums and Galleries, and taught art courses part-time at the University of South Carolina and Midlands Technical College. He received his Master’s in Fine Arts from the University of South Carolina in 2000 and his Bachelor’s of Fine Arts from Austin Peay State University (TN) in 1995. Scotty was included in the 2004 Triennial at the South Carolina State Museum, was one of four artists selected for 701 Center for Contemporary Art’s inaugural 2008 exhibit, and was one of nine artists recently included in “En Plein Air: Scenes of SC” at the Columbia Museum of Art.
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