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AL SCHWARTZ
Tacoma-born artist Al Schwartz was raised in the Pacific Northwest and studied fine art at Western Washington University and the University of New Mexico. After launching his professional art career, he spent over 20 years living and working in Hawaii, where he created an extensive body of work in sculpture, ceramics, and painting. In 2019, he returned to Bellingham, Washington, to continue his artistic practice in the Northwest.
With more than 30 years of experience, Schwartz’s work is included in public and private collections worldwide, including the State of Hawaii’s permanent collection. He was represented by several prominent galleries on Maui and served as artist in residence at the Four Seasons Resort in Wailea for over two decades. His career also includes collaborations with interior and hospitality designers, numerous commissioned projects for private clients and corporations, and participation in juried exhibitions.
‘Untitled’, is a series of original works by artist Al Schwartz shaped by over three decades of creative evolution, from a tactile foundation in ceramics and sculpture, to a richly intuitive abstract painting practice.
My art is a collaboration between myself, the materials, and the moment. It's rooted in intuition, in what I call a "felt sense," a kind of knowing that lives in the body, mind, and spirit before it ever takes shape in words or form. I build up layers, then break them down, adding, subtracting, scraping back, rebuilding. It's a natural rhythm of creation and destruction, control and chaos, complexity and simplicity, always moving, always discovering, always becoming. What emerges is not a rendering of something outside of itself, but the art as its own subject. Each piece is a singular object-one-of-a-kind, never repeatable. It has its own voice.
To me, this way of working mirrors life. There are struggles and breakthroughs, challenges and beauty. The history of each mark, and each layer carries the memory of that journey. The result is not a perfect form, but a visual and emotional terrain that's honest, raw, and reflective.
The title “Untitled”, is a conscious choice. It reflects my intention to leave the work open, free from narrative. The viewer is invited to engage and connect with the work on a sensory and emotional level guided by the same "felt sense" that drives my own creative process.