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works by VirtualMø

 

Labyrinthine Projections™
works by VirtualMø

Show dates:
October 7 - 29, 2004

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Known for his ability to bridge technology with traditional studio practices, Mø’s work spans from drawing and painting to kinetic sculpture to four-dimensional time-based art. His philosophy: “As an engineer and artist, I am bridging the gap between technology, with its rigidly organizing principles and systems, and ethereal, non-tangible, philosophical dialogue through traditional and invented art-making practices. My Labyrinthine Projections™ are, at present, the perfect metaphor to communicate the interconnectedness of all things.”

Roughly ten years ago, on a trip to visit his sister, he stumbled upon a favorite childhood toy – an Etch-A-Sketch. Having spent countless hours as a boy noodling through its silvery screen with only two knobs at his disposal, his re-acquaintance with this relic proved to be a source of more inspiration than anticipated.

His rediscovery of this simple toy led him down a new path with his visual art. While studying drawing under West Coast artist Joseph Biel, Mø was encouraged to experiment beyond traditional mediums and processes. Eventually finding himself emulating the knob-driven style of the Etch-A-Sketch, he spent hours creating a drawn portrait of his beloved from a single, uninterrupted, non-intersecting line.

Thus was born his self-devised Labyrinthine Projection® imagery. Since, Mø has been perfecting the technique as applied to portraiture and has been commissioned to produce original images of professional athletes including the legendary Michael Jordan.

Bio:
Born in Florida in 1966, Mo! spent his formative years in Southern California growing-up in and around his family’s metal fabrication facility. Heavily influenced by the industrial processes that surrounded him daily, Mø sought to complete a mechanical engineering degree to fulfill his early desire of becoming a robotics designer. Frustrated with his school’s lack of focus on technology and overwhelming emphasis on general studies, Mø abandoned formal education to enlist in the military as an electronics technician in the mid ‘80’s. Sergeant Mo served in the U.S. Air Force as an aviation electronics specialist, keeping nuke-laden F-15 and F-16 fighter jets aloft, before relocating to Portland, Oregon in 1998. Once in Portland, he finally returned to college to complete a Bachelor’s Degree in science with an emphasis on drawing and painting at Portland State University.

Mø has also been unusually successful in pursing a discrete yet parallel career path in music production. He is an accomplished digital media auteur and recording engineer, engineering in the Hollywood recording scene in the late ‘90’s and more recently producing several albums by local area artists. In recent years he has been a much sought-after remix producer, revamping tracks for Kraftwerk, P-Diddy and the Northwest’s own, Scribe Machine, amongst others. Nike regularly commissions Mø to produce digital media for its apparel and technology innovations. Currently, Nike’s research and development department has him working on the broadcast debut of the eagerly anticipated Air Jordan XX this Fall.

Mø currently lives in relative seclusion in Portland’s tranquil southwest hills. He has a state of the art digital media studio; a vintage synthesizer collection; one-and-a-half cats; a quarter-ton, three access milling machine in the garage; and can often be found glorifying inanimate industrial fixtures with his much admired oil on canvas paintings.

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Press: Portland Tribune
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