About

My work

Why do I paint?”
“Why am I compelled to do this work?”
“What am I wanting to say in these paintings?”
“What questions need to be asked?”
As a self-taught artist, these questions are constant companions in my creative process.
My work explores the creative tension in representional paintings of familiar subjects, such as flowers or animals, that evolve into textural, geometric and symbol rich abstractions. This is what feeds my creative hunger and brings me back to my easel day after day. The poet Mary Oliver describes better than I can the compelling idea that draws me into each painting: “and how could anyone believe that anything in this world is only what it appears to be”.
Several characteristics that emerge regularly in my paintings point to my important questions and values.
●Layering translucent and semi-opaque acrylic weaves a geometric mosaic of rippling concentric circles, constellations of square windows that partially reveal past layers, abundant repetitive patterns and a web of intersecting lines visually sewing together the composition. This all suggests the vast, incomprehensible set of connections behind everything we experience, as John Muir said, “when we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.” Most of these connections remain unknown to us.
●Negative space is given an equal role in composition in the understanding that things are as defined by what they are not as by what they are.
● Quotations, poetry, and obscure references merge with layers of collage, harvested relics from modern and vintage publications. Fragments of science, religion, history, art and archaeology abound. This stream of consciousness, which at times appears both random and deliberate, is collected evidence of the human need to ask questions and to believe in the answers(despite how often the answers change). It reflects the bewildering diversity of humans’ attempts to understand the world. The use of language as a symbol with it’s distinctly human aspects represents two things. First, the primary function of art is a communication channel. Second, these paintings, despite their first impression perhaps as nature paintings, are about us and our complex relationships: primarily to nature and the earth’s living environment, but also, to other people and to ourselves.
My process is intuitive and experimental, embracing change and evolution and uncertainty. The desires of expression and discovery always drive my paintings forward–I never fully know where it is taking me. Making art has taught me to experiment, to be vulnerable, to take chances, to love beauty, to explore, to create, to listen, to be resourceful, to hope and to trust myself. Our world can always use more of these things.

About me

Background

I am a self taught artist. My personal art education began as a child, when I would sneak into my mother’s closet to look through her collection of paintings, sketches and incomplete works. She had been a prolific painter prior to the arrival of my brother and myself, and did not paint again until many years later. Her conflicted desire to resume painting was influential in my interest in creating art and in my eventual suppressing of that desire for years. I had a voracious appetite for drawing and illustration, which evolved into an interest in architecture and a brief flirtation with watercolors before I abruptly abandoned my creative pursuits to attend an evangelical Christian college, Oral Roberts University, where I received a degree in Accounting with a minor in Theology in 1990. Several years later, after working in accounting and then retail management and interior design,I began painting and drawing again. Some artists who have particularly influenced and inspired the development of my artistic style have included Georgia O’Keeffe, Chuck Close, Ed Mell, Maynard Dixon, Marsden Hartley, Charles Demuth and countless others.

Currently

I live with my partner in the quirky artsy town of Bisbee Arizona, about five miles from the Mexican border. We travel as much as we can, always exploring, meeting new people, making friends, keeping an open mind, having fun and exploring.

CV

Darren Engleman
darrenengleman1@gmail.com | (801)834-8608 | Bisbee, Arizona

Summary

Self-taught painter focused on merging representation and abstraction with an emphasis on color, pattern and texture through acrylic paint and collage.  Exploring the interconnectedness of everything, the search for meaning and a fascination with the natural world. 

Education

1990 Bachelor of Sciences, Accounting, Oral Roberts University, Tulsa, Oklahoma

Exhibitions

2025 “Bisbee Now–4 Contemporary Painters”, group show, Gallery at 40 Main, Bisbee, Arizona

2025 “Hot Art”, group show, Studio 917 Gallery, Douglas, Arizona

2025 “Solo show–Paintings and Process by Darren Engleman”, Gallery at 40 Main, Bisbee, Arizona

2025 “Spirit of the Body”, group show, Carriage House Gallery, Bisbee, Arizona

2025 “Mannequin Dreams”, group show, Carriage House Gallery, Bisbee, Arizona

2024 Solo exhibition,  Pritchard Gallery, Bisbee, Arizona

2013 Group exhibition, Rosetti Fine Art Gallery, Wilton Manors, Florida

2011 “Palm Springs Art and Food Festival”, Hotel Zoso, Palm Springs, California

2008 Solo exhibition, ARUP offices, Salt Lake City, Utah

2007 “Art of Pride”, group show, ArtSpace Gallery, Salt Lake City, Utah

Publications

2011 100 Artists of the male figure, Schiffer Publishing