Brian Littlefield

Artist Statement

I am interested in the multivalent ambiguities of abstraction. My abstractions are not mathematical but more from nature.

Abstraction allows an openness of reference to many diverse sources. Each starting point has infinite possibilities and limitations. I use abstraction as a means to discover and contemplate the world around me.

Drawing and painting foster a direct approach. Recurring interests and preoccupations structure successive investigations via a relatively improvisational process. Internal and external locations are compressed, confounding mystery and clarity. Marks and smudges are asked to give integrity to the observation of semi-palpable forms and shifting spaces.

Artist Bio

Brian Littlefield is interested in discovery through the sustained inquiry of painting and drawing. His work develops through a process where reiterated concerns and observations coalesce and ossify into marks and smudges. He received an MFA from Massachusetts College of Art and a BFA from University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. He is an Assistant Professor of Art at Emmanuel College, where he teaches drawing, painting, and printmaking. He maintains an active studio practice in Boston, Massachusetts.

Untitled Drawing, charcoal on paper

Exhibitions  

2021 Smaller, Kingston Gallery Project Space (one person)

2021 Space Between, Kingston Gallery, Boston, MA

2020 Droplets, HallSpace Drawing Project, HallSpace, Boston, MA

2020 Repeat as Needed, Kingston Gallery, Boston, MA

2019 That’s Cliché, or Not, HallSpace Drawing Project, HallSpace, Boston MA

2019 Pushing Forward, Kingston Gallery, Boston MA

2018 Paper Chassis, HallSpace Drawing Project, HallSpace, Boston MA

2018 Analog, HallSpace, Boston, MA (one person)

2018 Entangle, Kingston Gallery, Boston MA

2017 Drawings, Kingston Gallery, Boston MA (one person)

2016 12 x 12 = 1 Square Foot, HallSpace Drawing Project, HallSpace, Boston MA

2014 Drawing Project, HallSpace, Boston MA

2008 Faculty Exhibition, Lillian Immig Gallery, Boston MA

2004 New Paintings, Lillian Immig Gallery, Boston MA (one person)

2003 Faculty Exhibition, Lillian Immig Gallery, Boston MA

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