Scott Malbaurn
Instagram: @ScottMalbaurn
Website: https://scott-malbaurn.squarespace.com/
Bio: Malbaurn received his BFA from The Maryland Institute College of Art in 2001 and MFA from Pratt Institute in 2004. His work has been exhibited internationally and nationally with solo exhibitions at Truckenbrod Gallery (Corvallis, OR) Central Utah Arts Center (Salt Lake City, UT) Janet Kurnatowski (Brooklyn, NY) Group exhibitions at Real Tinsel (Milwaukee, WI) Museum of Sonoma County (Santa Rosa, CA) Oregon Contemporary (Portland, OR) The Noyes Museum (Absecon, NJ) White Walls Gallery (San Francisco, CA) Kunsthalle Beacon(KuBe) (Beacon, NY) David Richard Gallery (Santa Fe, NM) Rogue Art Space (New York, NY) Kunsthalle Galapagos (Brooklyn, NY) Denise Bibro (New York, NY) Platform (New York, NY) Envoy Enterprises (New York, NY) New Bedford Museum of Art (New Bedford, MA) The H. Lewis Gallery (Baltimore, MD) among others. Select publications include The Brooklyn Rail, dArt International Magazine, NY Arts Magazine, WagMag, ArtCritical.com, and The Standard Times. Since 2001 Malbaurn is also known for his curatorial practice with projects at The Schneider Museum of Art (Ashland, OR) Platform (New York, NY) Hunter College (New York, NY) Janet Kurnatowski (Brooklyn, NY) Landing Space (Brooklyn, NY) and H. Lewis Gallery (Baltimore, MD) Malbaurn has taught Fine Arts at Pratt Institute and Southern Oregon University. He has given talks, critiques, and conducted workshops at schools such as the School of the Visual Arts (New York, NY) Yale University (New Haven, CT) Pratt Institute (Brooklyn, NY) Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) (New York, NY) School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) (Chicago, IL) and Cornell University (Ithaca, NY). Malbaurn currently serves as the Executive Director of the Schneider Museum of Art (Ashland, OR)
Statement: I am an abstract geometric artist working with synthetic water-based media such as silica, urethane, and acrylic resin, combined with pigments to formulate my own paint. My process involves methodical layering and crosshatching on canvas or linen stretched over panel. Each surface is meticulously primed and wet-sanded to achieve an ultra-smooth finish—never utilizing spray applications. Between layers, I lightly sand and apply contrasting or complementary underpaintings to each color, altering the way light interacts with the surface and enhancing visual depth.
Craft and expression are central to my practice. I remain deeply aware of the evolving boundaries within contemporary art, shaped by artists, curators, and critics alike. I've come to understand the importance of both action and reaction, and the necessity of following a path shaped by one’s own experience, intuition, and reflection. This approach ensures my work is both deeply personal and in dialogue with artistic traditions and current visual culture.
For me, geometry and color function as a universal language—color as light, and geometry as a form that transcends age, race, and spoken word. My aim is to reinterpret and challenge the familiar, introducing subtle discord through deliberate compositional and chromatic choices. This intentional disruption prevents the work from becoming passive or predictable. I seek a tension between the contrived and the arbitrary, resulting in compositions that range from poetic to dynamic—some offering clarity, others inviting mystery.
My studio practice is vital to both my creative output and my way of life. It’s a space where imagination and invention converge. Working in abstraction sharpens my awareness, deepens my sense of observation, and makes time feel purposeful. In an era defined by global upheaval, political unrest, and digital saturation, I see hands-on, material-based practice as a form of resistance—an antidote to the attention economy and a conduit for introspection. My hope is that viewers engage with the work on their own terms, finding resonance in its material presence and visual language.
