Edward Merritt
US, born 1960
“The disparate forces of time unlock gates of opportunity for me to create work with elements that would have otherwise become contaminants.”
New York native, Edward Merritt studied sculpture at Kent State University and at the Rietveld Acadamie in Amsterdam, Netherlands. He received his MFA in sculpture from the Massachusetts College of Art and immediately after spent two years assisting in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Glass Lab. He established a career in the field of patent design and development, co-founding the invention company, Genedics and for a decade worked in intellectual property in the realms of telecommunications, clean energy design, holographic imagery and digital technology. In 2016 the artist returned to the studio.
Merritt’s early work combined steel and glass to create figurative and abstract sculptural forms, whereas his recent work has transitioned to two dimensional panels and utilizes materials from urban environments. He sources and excavates graffiti debris and paint he finds peeling or decaying from old warehouse buildings, train tunnels, bridges, roads and other sites which are often hundreds of layers thick and have succumbed to time and gravity. His collection of these shards and swaths of paint from urban environments are often found in areas adjacent to dirt or water and if left could be a potential pollution. His works draw awareness to social and environmental issues with the use of recycled and repurposed materials.
Navigating the fundamental challenge of creation without destruction, Merritt is cognizant of the environmental impact inherent in the artmaking process and works to minimize his own. He honors the fact that materials used are charged with their own rich histories which become part of his personal expression. His mixed media works are born from self-expressions of introspection, interpersonal relationships, social politics, unexpected beauty, and love. The creations, although abstract in nature, are carefully constructed narratives about the human condition.
