My work is about giving form to memories, visions and dreams. Intuition, interpretation and imagination are the driving forces that have fueled my passion for making art since the 1980s.
Inspired by nature, I pay close attention to the forest, to the ocean, and to the qualities of light at night, especially faint illuminations cast by lit windows, campfires, and moonlight. These elements often surface in my painting as abstractions.
My painting process includes sensory awareness techniques that allow me to relinquish control and invent new ways of making marks: painting with the canvas behind my back while looking through a mirror; painting the shape of a sound; and painting in near darkness. I often work with both hands simultaneously.
John McCarthy
The paintings of John McCarthy have been exhibited in solo and group shows in galleries and cultural centers in the United States and abroad, including the Susan Anderson Gallery, Los Angeles; Gallery Luscombe, San Francisco; and the Ariel Gallery, New York City.
In addition, his work has been selected by CBS for the set of Hawaii Five-0 and by NBC for the sets of Parenthood and Las Vegas. His works are in numerous private collections throughout the United States and Europe.