Park City, UT BRITTON SNYDER & SPENCER BUDD The Human Experience
This July, Meyer Gallery in Park City, Utah, will explore the human figure and spirit with a two-artist show featuring the work of figurative painter Britton Snyder and sculptor Spencer Budd.
As a gymnastics instructor at Brigham Young University, Budd possesses an astute understanding of human anatomy— both in form and movement—which showcases richly in his artwork.
“From the time I first began drawing from a model over 35 years ago, my work has been inspired by the infinite movement and positions of the body,” he says. “A sculpture or drawing will be different with every model, even in the same pose. Observing these unique relationships of form, proportions, angles and masses that
define the nature of the individual gestalt energizes me.”
Among the works Budd will exhibit in the show is Celestial Material II, a bronze head shaped as if it were wrapped in fabric—like a mummy—with the “exposed flesh being removed, left void.” Budd elaborates, “This series emphasizes the temporal nature of existence—the physical, visual outer part of the human form is only part of the whole. There is an unseen, spiritual element that underlies and gives form to who we are.”
While Budd primarily works in bronze, he utilizes mixed media to add symbolic meaning to his works, as seen in Playfully Grounded, a ceramic male bust held upright on a torso made of wood blocks surrounding a swing set in the middle
opening. “The sculpture expresses the effects raising children has had on my thoughts and behaviors,” he says. “My kids are a constant reminder that joy and responsibility are closely linked.”
Much like Playfully Grounded, Snyder’s work also derived from a place of personal development. “I’m hoping that viewers notice the honesty that I’m painting with and my willingness to grow,” he says. “I’m branching out and using the language I’ve developed through my painting practice to speak about my views on the world. Technically, I feel I’ve developed a clear voice and can say whatever I want to, which is where I’ve always wanted to be. I’m able to play with the paint and strike an unforced balance between representation and letting the medium be free to do as it does.”
The featured series documents a year in the life of Snyder’s family after they moved to a lakeside community. “I wanted to incorporate the nature I live in with rocks and water, and tie it in to the connection this has with my family life with an emphasis on mood and feeling,” he says.
Out of the works, the artist says that White was a personal “breakthrough.” “The painting captures the mood I was looking for and has the simplicity and clarity I’ve been trying to capture in my work,” he says. “West and Moving are also significant for me in that I’m always trying to take my figurative work and make it about more than just the person in the frame.”
Common themes found among the paintings are cool tones, lush shades of blue, stark shadows and blurred faces— making the works reminiscent of old Polaroids, documenting memories that are not the viewer’s own yet feel like déjà vu. “People often comment that my work reminds them of memories and a dreamlike state,” Snyder says. “I see paintings as a document of where the artist was at in the moment they created them. In that sense, the dream/memory interpretation fits well to my intentions. The paintings are manifesting and preserving inner thoughts, memories and dreams.”
The exhibition will be on view from July 26 through August 30.