Phil Saxon was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He received his BFA from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and later earned his MFA with honors from Northern Illinois University. Saxon’s award-winning work has been widely collected and is featured prominently in galleries, museums and private collections.
Saxon’s art is strongly influenced by the expressive qualities of the Post-Impressionists, early Modernists and most recently the Post-Expressionists. His passion for the art and lives of these and other artists plays a key role in the artistic process. When creating a painting, Saxon treats the creative process as an exploration, which begins by choosing an image from an art book or magazine. Then, through the process of painting and repainting this image, he discovers ‘the’ image that becomes his completed artwork. He uses ink, watercolor, thick and thin applications of paint, pasting techniques and more… often using surface texture to add to his works’ emotive quality. Saxon’s technique delivers complex tones, colors and surfaces that provoke a direct response from the viewer.
Believing that we all experience a common range of emotions in life, he attempts to convey, in abstract terms, these universal experiences using paint, paper and canvas. An expert in loss and survival, Saxon‘s work reflects his commitment to passionately represent the power of recovery and spiritual rebirth.
© Phil Saxon