Buffalo-based artist W. C. Maggio pours, scrapes, layers, and stipples black and white latex house paints onto various supports. Using razor blades, he often draws on or scrapes away at the surface, a technique that points to the artist’s training in printmaking. Occasionally, he gives the work a tactile, embossed appearance by pushing pigment through mesh, which is laid onto the panel and later removed. Maggio’s work conveys abstract imagery that hovers on the border of representation—calling to mind lunar surfaces, celestial forms, or even molecular photography. However, it is far more contemplative in tone. For example, the title of this work references out-of-body or near-death phenomena. As he explains, “My paintings speak to the human experience. Metaphoric associations encourage a meditative, prayerful state of mind.”

Label from Drawing: The Beginning of Everything, July 8–October 15, 2017