As a young boy growing up in Snow Hill, Maryland, Barry Mason felt an attraction to the awesomeness of the natural lines of farm buildings and the rich stories of his ancestors who lived in this historic area. He was immersed in the vast scenic landscapes, the beaches, and islands along the Eastern Shore. He remembers always having a desire to create, construct, and draw. Looking back, he realizes that spirits were guiding him along the way. Now, art and those impressions still fuel his creative process. 

 

Mason sees himself as a “composer” when he constructs his large shaped and sculpted abstract paintings. As he’s creating, he feels an ancestry spirit pulling him far back to an ancient African trail. He hears their chant, which motivates him to extend his creative reach and change the boundaries through his love of shapes. The chanting takes him in various directions depending on the inspiration of the moment. A barrage of conscious and unconscious elements begins to emerge through linear/non-linear lines, forms, colors & backward writing, all weaving in and out the layered painted surface to create a story that may sometimes extend beyond even his consciousness.

He was first introduced to abstract expressionism and many other forms of art at Indiana State University. As one of ISU’s student staff photographers, he documented campus life and sports activities (photographing fellow students like basketball great Larry Bird and gymnast Kurt Thomas). It was the beginning of his foray into photo documentation which manifested itself in future works and more than 20 years of photo placements in hundreds of newspapers across the United States. ISU is where he also created his first abstract and large-scale works on canvas.