Widely acclaimed for his elegant systems-based art, William Martin Jean [Jein Yung Tsun] creates paintings that combine rational, intellectual experience with personal, intuited feeling.

During his early years, Jean created improvisatory paintings with richly impastoed surfaces. In the early 1970s he began seeking more control over the creative process and developed a personal language of ordered structure, often basing his compositions on a predetermined mathematical grid. The new structures were inspired partly by Pre-Columbian pyramids that Jean encountered in Mexico. For the past two decades, architecture has remained a dominant concern of Jean's art.

Jean explores new directions in his work by creating small mixed media works, similar to the Kyoto Series shown on this site. [Bio source: Artist Archives of the Western Reserve]

Artist's Statement