Influenced by tribal and folk art, Baker Overstreet envisions a primitive abstraction reflective of contemporary zeitgeist. In totemic compositions of bold colour and stylised patterning Overstreet develops his own painterly lexicon comprised of personal symbolism and gesture. Through their atavistic formalism, Overstreet’s symmetrical arrangements create deceptive pictorial fields: Rough scrawled lines and blocks of vibrant hue evoke fleeting suggestions
of figurative or architectural form, creating moments of recognition only to be devoured by the urgency of the paintings’ surfaces.