Hermit Thrush, acrylic on panel, 60 x 60 inches, 2024

"I am fascinated by the way what we see is both informed and obscured by what we know.

I am an abstract painter who lives where I grew up, surrounded by wild landscapes that are both totally familiar and often wonderfully strange.

My images evolve from paint poured in layers to create odd shapes and unexpected relationships of color. The unpredictable nature of this material process creates a complex visual space that speaks to the deeply layered space of woods, waters and skies. By avoiding the definitive filter of representation, the paintings evoke the heightened sense of discovery experienced when entering a wild place for the first time.

It is a practice that reminds me of how much I still do not know about even the places I know best and keeps me awake to the rich complexity of the natural world and the ever changing light from the east."

Meg Brown Payson, November 2024

Hermit Thrush, acrylic on panel, 60 x 60 inches, 2024 (detail)