Featured image: Great Falls #2.01, Tim Grant, 2024, mixed media, 23 x 19 in. / 58.42 x 48.26 cm.
The mixed-media works of Tim Grant operate at the intersection of landscape observation and perceptual abstraction.
Tim Grant is a mixed-media artist whose work uses repetitive dot structures to translate landscape into layered, perceptual abstractions.
Built from dense accumulations of small, circular marks, these compositions translate specific sites into layered visual fields that oscillate between image and surface. Rather than reproducing landscape as a fixed view, Grant’s works emphasize process, repetition, and optical instability, allowing place to emerge gradually through rhythm, color, and density. Scott’s Run #17.03 (2018), Catawba Falls #19.01 (2022), and Pictured Rocks (2026) collectively demonstrate how this method evolves across scale and time.
Scott's Run #17.03, Tim Grant, 2018, mixed media, 9 x 14 in. / 22.86 x 35.56 cm.
In Scott’s Run #17.03, Grant compresses a landscape experience into a vertically oriented, intimate format. The surface is structured through layered zones of dots that partially obscure and reveal underlying color fields. Muted greens, blues, and grays suggest foliage and water without resolving into a singular focal point. The work’s smaller scale reinforces a sense of proximity, as if the viewer is navigating the site through memory rather than direct observation. The repeated circular marks function as both visual texture and a conceptual filter, interrupting immediate legibility while encouraging sustained looking.
Catawba Falls #19.01, Tim Grant, 2022, mixed media, 20 x 15 in. / 50.8 x 38.1 cm.
Catawba Falls #19.01 expands this approach into a more dynamic spatial composition. The distribution of dots becomes less uniform, creating subtle directional movement across the surface. Darker vertical passages imply cascading water, while surrounding greens and yellows establish a dense environmental context. The image appears to fluctuate between depth and flatness, with the dot matrix alternately acting as atmosphere and obstruction. This instability mirrors the physical experience of a waterfall, constant motion perceived through shifting viewpoints, translated into a controlled, methodical process.
Pictured Rocks, Tim Grant, 2026, mixed media, 20 x 15 in. / 50.8 x 38.1 cm.
In Pictured Rocks, Grant further amplifies color saturation and spatial complexity. Cooler blues and warmer pinks interact across a broader field, producing a heightened sense of luminosity. The dot pattern remains consistent as a structural device, but its interaction with underlying painterly gestures becomes more pronounced. Landscape here is less site-specific and more experiential, evoking the sensory impact of light, water, and rock rather than a single vantage point. The work’s scale allows peripheral vision to engage, reinforcing the immersive quality suggested by the composition.
Grant’s practice demonstrates a sustained investigation into how landscapes can be reconstituted through pattern, repetition, and partial concealment. The dot matrix operates as both a visual system and a conceptual framework, mediating between direct observation and abstraction. By prioritizing perception over depiction, these works position landscape not as a static subject but as an accumulation of sensory impressions shaped by time, movement, and memory.
Learn more About Naturalist Gallery of Contemporary Art.
Bass Harbor, Tim Grant, 2019, mixed media, 20 x 15 in. / 50.8 x 38.1 cm.
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