These paintings are easily characterized as reductive if not minimal.  Scott Malbuarn references his imagery from nature which is subsequently boiled down to one or just a handful of images on a flat background.  An interesting relationship is established between the nothingness of the ground and the playful lyricism of the imagery all of which is important for understanding their content.  Composition is a crucial element for this work.  For example, where a small yellow horizontal is placed on the canvas along with its dimensions and the color definition become huge matters of consequence within the context of the piece.  In many of the other works

Scott Malbuarn, Galleria Janet Kurnatowski

Scott Malbuarn, Galleria Janet Kurnatowski

Malbuarn playfully engages the edges of the canvases. He establishes a coded vocabulary; a sort of imagery shorthand that begins with nature but is also self-referential for the artist.  Yet the work also remains open to what the viewer can pull from it.

Scott Malbuarn, Galleria Janet Kurnatowski