Michael McCall

 

ROAD SIGN MANDALAS   -  THE CAUTION SERIES

 

Part of an ongoing investigation into the nature of signage and finding one’s way, the Road Sign Mandalas originate from a desire to recover a scarred 

item from the environment and turn it into a jewel.  There is a story behind each procurement.  It is important the signs come from the street, I will take 

them in, remove their temporary directional purpose, clean them, and dress them up.  I present them here as little portals to another  universe.

 

McCall’s work has been described as a hybrid of abstraction and imagery, sometimes referred to as “Imagist.” Elements throughout the work: color, shape and form, connect him to the abstract modernists of the twentieth century, but his use of graphic symbolism walks a line between abstraction and 

realism.

 

The symbols appear as abstract metaphors of a personal journey of research and self-discovery, interlaced in fields of geometrics and color. His directions oppose the Postmodernists certainty of objective and scientific efforts to explain reality, instead relying upon personal experience with his blend of abstraction and metaphysics to present a subjective outlook of the world. Additionally, he exhibits a sense of humor, most notable in the titles of the pieces. In much of the work from the past two decades he uses elements from Chinese philosophy and mysticism that show a focus on and inner search, an enlightenment that tends to intrigue and amuse the viewer with his positive and harmonious outlook.