One of our former students had a number of his pieces of artwork hanging up in the “Art Way” at the Seminole Campus in the University Partnership (UP) buildings hallway. Mott is an amazing contemporary artist whose work shows his love for fishing and an immense emotional existence beneath his fish. His work is astonishing in person because of the layers of life within each of his compositions, and the level of detail which reveal themselves under close examination. His use of perspective makes the fish seem like they are coming at you, and he somehow manages to place his signature within his work in almost every piece. His graffiti, phrases, and images took me into the mind of a fisherman.

The amazing detail and graffiti in the piece “Tuned In” (above) will forced me to open my mind and try to see each area or layer of the painting. This is very appealing in his artwork because it is difficult to do. The fish in the middle appears to be the main focus at first glance, as he uses perspective to make it appear as though it is swimming at you. After a moment of enjoying this composition, the phrase ‘Lucky’ in the top corner and the cannon in the lower corner show the depth in this piece. As though there is more meaning underneath the fish. All of his artwork is a perfect example of perspective hard at work; playing games with the actual size of things, and showing things in the background that are extremely emotional, as the foreground grabs my eye with a familiar fishy image. Perfect.

The painting “Most Dangerous” (above) shows his skill in layering, as one looks at this piece the layers start to show. The man in the background and the other fish and graffiti bring it all together; it almost appears the fish are swimming around his art or graffiti. It seems like there is more going on in this painting then what is seen: the gears in the background and the word “torhead” jump out at me. After looking up “torhead,” I found that it is a video game that came out in 2011. There is also a man in the composition in a tuxedo in the lower corner, by the gears, who appears to be far off in the distance.

His piece “Destroy” (above) has a great deal of emotion within ever corner. The words “Miss me when I’m gone” are in one corner with an area of blood dripping down and underlining the words. In the lower corner there is a railroad track and a pistol. The fish in the center of the picture has a spiked collar on with padlock on it, like the goth kids used to wear in high school. Above the fish is the word “destroy” pieced together with what looks like newspaper clippings. Just looking at this piece gives a feeling of distress and makes me wonder if he was a gothic kid in school that got picked on and wanted to run away, or worse. This piece definitely tells a story.

The composition “Jack Blasters” (above) is a favorite because his signature is really innovative. The fish catch the viewers eye first because of the stereo within the body of each fish, which is out of the ordinary, and in perfect proportion in each fish. Moving closer one can see the word “splash” in graffiti, and an Indian head dress. “MUTT” is formed out of a castle, kind of in the middle of the painting, but behind the fish. It is impressive that he finds different ways to put his signature in each composition, as he does with the castle in this one. Above the word splash there is a familiar image of the “Mr. Peanut” tipping his hat. This painting gives a playful feeling with the radios within the fish, “Mr. Peanut” in the top corner, and in the background there are huge speakers in the left corner that look like they are for a club beneath the tail of a fish.

In the painting “Coreyphania Hip-Hoperus” (above) Mott has a lot of bold shapes. The giant fish in the middle looks as though it is going to pop off of the canvas at me. Behind the fish is the talent of his layering and use of perspective, showing how he wants the composition to flow. His signature is up in the left corner behind three skulls. Each one of the skulls have a slight difference in little details, like the tear coming from the bottom skull.

In the composition “Dead (Red) Tide” (above) Mott shows his love for the area of Tampa Bay. His signature in graffiti in the lower left corner is really skillfully placed, and it doesn’t take away from the red fish in the middle. He has speakers in the top left corner with the speaker wire, then down in the lower right corner he has the state of Florida and more railroad tracks. Perhaps this painting shows where he grew up, but the railroad tracks are still a mystery. He seems like he likes skulls, but again not sure of a meaning. The flow of this painting is moving with the arrows and around the fish in kind of swishing motion with the tail. It is beautiful to enjoy viewing and mysterious with hidden meanings.

The painting “Lookdownthestreet”, (above) is a mystery all the way around. The flow of this painting appears to be to the left, and it is enforced with arrows and the direction the fish are swimming through the graffiti. His use of perspective and depth are kind of minimal in this composition, and his signature cannot be found. Very beautiful and mysterious.

His work extends to mixed media on wood as well, shown in “kings looking for an Ace” (above). His layers of graffiti, paint, and “The Great Gazoo” cartoon character in the background make this painting interesting. The word “bad,” in red, and in the middle of the painting seems out of place with the cartoon. The larger fish has numbers on his back that are almost hidden until the viewer takes a second look.

“Ghosts”- Mixed media on wood. (above)

“Blue Train”- Mixed media on wood. (above)

Mr. Brownstone”- Mixed media on wood.  (above)

 “Sexy One”-Mixed media on wood. (above)

“Long Cuda”- Acrylic on canvas. (above)

Come down to the Seminole Campus and check out the “Art Way” in the UP building. There are new exhibitions showing all the time!