June 8, Acrylic on yupo paper, 9×12 inches, 2021
This week we welcome Ed Grant. Originally from Vermont, Grant is a painter and photographer who has been living in Brooklyn since the early ’90s, and working as a finish carpenter for most of that time.
Grant’s current work is an exploration of liminality, or the space between things. The Tibetan Buddhist concept of the Bardo is a liminal space, a space/time between death and rebirth. This betweenness opens up the possibility of reflection or insight, or even a moment of reprieve. Visually, he references microscopic (cells) and the macroscopic (images of the universe) and blurs the line between the two. Losing a concrete sense of scale can imply a fluidity and connection between different states, or being lost in the infinite.
July 1, Acrylic on yupo paper, 9×12 inches, 2021
Grant’s approach to mark making serves to reinforce this state of in-betweenness. Fluid acrylic paint, copious amounts of water and the waterproof surface of yupo paper paper lend themselves to a rich variety of marks, some intentional, some incidental, most somewhere between. Different pigments fall out of solution at different rates. Evaporating puddles can leave a variety of traces, from fine lines to ephemeral clouds.
Through his ongoing Daily Project, he gets time to make art every day, regardless of other commitments. The first 10 years were devoted to photography. Recently Grant switched to doing a daily sketch or small painting. In early October, he underwent emergency surgery for a dissected aorta. He spent the next month hospitalized requiring intensive physical therapy. This was the first interruption to the Daily Project in over a decade. Once home, he got back to the Daily Project. The practice now has an added therapeutic dimension, returning dexterity to his hands and improving state of mind. He still has months of recovery ahead. 
Recovery, Acrylic on yupo paper, 9×12 inches, 2021
In order to deal with the inevitability of medical bills and to bridge the recovery process, Grant has made the Daily Project paintings from this past June through September available for $250 a piece. They can be viewed here. All the paintings are acrylic paint on yupo paper, 9 x 12 inches. 
September 27, Acrylic on yupo paper, 9×12 inches, 2021
Grant holds a BA from the University of Vermont and a MFA from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. His work has been shown in NYC, throughout the United States, and is in collections as far flung as Australia and Taiwan. You can see more of his work on his website and instagram.
