Daniel Klewer doesn’t just start his paintings with a blank canvas. He starts from scratch, building his own frames and stretching the canvas over the wood as a part of his creative process, feeling the potential of the fresh white surface at a soul level. Exploring the relationship—the dichotomy and similarities—between painting and sculpture, Klewer applies paint to the canvas to achieve abstract pieces that he would characterize as contemporary, textural and linear.

Linear in the ways that the paint is applied, textures arise from the canvas as sculpted veins of color that are arranged to convey a message of minimalism or an exploration of spontaneity with a subtext of the artist’s own inner contemplation.

“I aspire for viewers to experience excitement and wonder regarding the material,” says Klewer, a Wisconsinite who now resides in South Carolina. “Color has the power to convey so much, and when combined with light, shadow and scale, each piece can express a multitude of meanings. Depending on whether I am creating a spontaneous, multicolored piece or a color gradient work, my art oscillates between spontaneity and serene dynamism. As an artist, I deeply value the opportunity to manifest unique and personal ideas and visions and hope my work contributes to a sense of wonder.”