Heirloom

by Maxwell Orsen

“I was born in 1979 in Quincy, Massachusetts, and started painting seriously in 2006. Over the years, I’ve been drawn to all kinds of modern and contemporary artists—people working across different movements and mediums. Music and literature are big sources of inspiration for me too, and they find their way into the work in all sorts of ways. When I’m painting, I stop when I feel that something has happened. It’s not a big moment, and it doesn’t mean the work suddenly has a power all its own—that’s rare. It’s just a quiet sense that something is now working that wasn’t before. I’ve learned that pushing past that point often destroys the piece. I’ve thrown out plenty of works because of that. I end up too far out and can’t get back, so I start trying to recreate what I already had. Really, it’s about recognizing when I’ve reached that point and finding a way to be content enough to stop.”