Raised where the East Coast suburbs filtered into the woods and farms of Wyeth country, Scott Conary (Rhode Island School of Design, BFA ’93) is a subject driven artist who creates oil paintings of objects and places with which we often share complicated and ambiguous relationships. From the mess and splendor of the broken egg, to the transience of the earnest flower, to the rippling folds of the improvised shelter, these are subjects drawn from his life, celebrated for their unexpected and unvarnished beauty. Shaping and fueling Conary’s work are his daughter’s experiences with disability and its impact on those around her.

Bound is part of a series of works inspired by the camps in the margins of our urban landscapes. Depicting a subject of billowing fabric, torn tents, and scrap lumber under a deep summer sky, it exemplifies not only his interest in different kinds of beauty and an incomplete narrative, but also how he approaches painting. As Conary strives to create a tangible presence, he uses the tools of both abstraction and representation, and the process and materials are often as vital to the painting’s feel as its final image.

His heroes include Käthe Kollwitz, Andrew Wyeth, Edgar Degas, and Willem de Kooning.