It’s apparent that Blaine Fontana grew up with a big backyard. Trees, leaves, bugs and birds fill the canvases of this Seattle-based artist, and each of his paintings’ elements seem as freshly plucked from the earth as an organic carrot. It’s funny, then, that Blaine’s more recent personal history is full of less organic pursuits – things like graffiti art, classical training, and graphic design – and that even after all these years, it’s the acres of forest surrounding his childhood home that seem to seep most distinctly into his work. Symbolic yet unaffected, Blaine’s paintings, sculptures, and collaborations with institutions like Scion and Nike have paved the way for an exciting career.
In a recent interview with Format, Fontana had this to say about the natural symbolism that is consistently embedded in his work. “Nature has its own overwhelming power of surrealism in what I have come to see as expected or ordinary. I’m still constantly taken back by the design, changes, and harmonic system of flora and fauna. I paint what is familiar, and from the visual vocabulary I have subconsciously developed since an infant. It’s also really difficult to describe the general symbolism since every piece and its inherent elements remain different and unique.”
