Scott Waters

Scott Waters‘ artwork focuses on the often contradictory rites and rituals of violent masculinity. Primarily, these have been painting projects that could be considered akin to Social Realism: with an autobiographical starting point, he uses his personal experience in military service to depict scenes and events which embrace the violent, the deviant and the homosocial all with the end point of investigating manifestations of community. At Open Studio, Waters produced a series in intaglio with chine collé, which refers to the histories of Social Realism and war art while emphasizing a more self-critical role of the artist through the depiction of fights and drunkenness.

Throughout the duration of my residency I was certainly granted the time, resources and support to develop and execute my intaglio-based project. For myself, however, the more important result was the opportunity to step out of my comfort zone as an artist. It was the disconnection from the familiar that was the most valuable aspect of the experience. – Scott Waters, Visiting Artist 2007