Colin Elmer is a New York-based artist whose work investigates how humans attempt to control and interpret the natural world. With a background in Communication Design (BFA, Parsons School of Design) Elmer works across drawing, painting and experimental publishing to deconstruct the boundaries between writing, image and movement.
Central to his practice is the idea of mark-making as a form of language. He treats non-semantic text, gestural line work, and the movements of humans and animals as interchangeable forms of mark-making. He lets medium speak - visible underdrawings, translucent materials, exposed canvas - and emphasizes process over resolution. By revealing the scaffolding of image making he deconstructs it to its rawest form of communication. Elmer's visual language juxtaposes instinctive, organic marks with rigid structure, creating works that embrace tension and the instability of meaning. This contrast reflects his interest in how humans attempt to control the natural world, from the domestication of animals to the systems we use to define meaning.