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Patricia Buck

Painting, Visual / Media

My creative process is spontaneous and intuitive. I paint without planning where the work will go. The method is instinctive, unconscious, and entirely physical; relying upon a strongly associative mind, an internal compass, decades of experience with color and a kinesthetic sense which takes over when a brush saturated with paint meets the surface of the canvas.

My abstract work conveys realities which I cannot put words. Some are subtle, some powerful, some dark, but all represent an energetic reality that is very real, that I articulate in paint.

These acts of ‘making,’ link an inner reality with the physical materials in my hands, in a 'call and response' dynamic which develops into something tangible. When I'm finished, an idea is made manifest. An object exists before me expressing something of my self.

About the Artist

Patricia Buck was born and raised in Baltimore, MD. She received a BFA in studio art at University of Maryland in College Park with a minor in art history, and an MFA from the Howard University, College of Art, in Washington, DC. She has had works purchased for Art in Public Places in Colorado, and has received grants from Colorado Council for the Arts, Rauschenberg's Change Inc., Arlington Arts Council, and five grants from the District of Columbia Commission for the Arts & Humanities including two Individual Artist grants, and three Technical Assistance grants.  Her work will be included in this fall’s Survey of Women Artists’ in the D-M-V. The emphasis of her art continues to be using color and form to show the phenomenal aspects of unseen energy.

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Artist's Statement

Patricia Buck was born in 1949 in Baltimore, Maryland. Her earliest memories are rooted in a deep sensory connection to nature—wandering wooded paths near her childhood home, observing the plants and animals that inhabited those forests, listening to birdsong and the wind through dried oak leaves, and absorbing the colors and scents of her surroundings—often while on horseback.   Introduced to art at an early age, she began formal training in childhood and was painting in oils on canvas by high school. She went on to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Studio Art, with a minor in Art History, from the University of Maryland. After graduation, she worked briefly in retail copywriting, but soon found the work unfulfilling. Seeking a more creative life, she moved to Key West for two years before relocating to Washington, D.C., to establish her studio.   From 1983 to 1996, Buck lived and worked in the District, exhibiting widely at venues including the Washington Women’s Art Center, Olshonsky Gallery, Touchstone Gallery, Gallery K, and through Washington Project for the Arts (WPA) events. In 1982, Joseph Hirshhorn purchased her work Demons Without Faces at auction to benefit the WPA; the piece is now catalogued in the Hirshhorn Museum collection. During this period, she received numerous honors, including two Individual Artist Grants from the D.C. Commission for the Arts and Humanities.   Encouraged by Sam Gilliam, Buck pursued graduate studies at Howard University’s College of Fine Arts, earning her Master of Fine Arts degree in 1996. Following graduation, she moved to Denver, Colorado, where she presented three solo exhibitions at Pirate Contemporary Art and Edge Gallery, participated in numerous juried shows, and had two works acquired by Colorado Art in Public Places. The Colorado Council for the Arts also awarded her a scholarship in photography at Anderson Ranch.   In 2000, Buck returned to the East Coast with her long-time partner. In 2002, she presented Genetics/Memetics at the Art-O-Matic event in Washington, D.C., earning a front-page feature in The Washington Post.   Most recently, in 2025, Buck was awarded an Artist Grant from the Maryland State Arts Council, and her work was selected for inclusion in the 2025 Survey of Women Artists in Delaware-Maryland-Virginia.  

Featured Work

Photos

This vibrant composition is composed of a layered background of earthy greens, yellows, and deep oranges—with carefully placed concentric circles in vivid hues of pink, yellow, red, and turquoise. The composition varies from luminous to atmospheric with circular forms staggered in the foreground and others receding to the back. Circles, the dominant theme, vary in size and opacity, floating, overlapping, and clustering across the canvas. The circles evoke associations with cellular structures, life forms, or celestial constellations—inviting a sense of the micro and macro simultaneously. Textured brushwork and layered transparencies amplify the feeling of movement and emergence, reinforcing the tension between order and improvisation. The result is a composition that is both contemplative and subdued.
A vibrant composition of concentric circles densely pack the surface of this work. Rings of color in blue, red, purple, green, yellow, and orange are tightly packed and layered concentrically. The ground is a golden yellow-green, enhancing a jewel-like quality to the paint. Brushstrokes are visible and textured, adding to the immediacy of the piece despite the repetitive motif. The circles vary slightly in size, placement, and color, creating an optical reverberation across the canvas. The painting radiates a vibrant multiplicity and interconnectedness as each form retains its unique individuality.
This painting illuminates unseen patterns which connect us to each other and the systems around us. Composed of layered geometries—circles, lines, and grids and layers of translucent color, infer natural and cultural boundaries wherein we confine our experience. Repeating shapes and connective lines suggest the relentless patterns of repetition experienced by generations and shared cultural history. This visual iconography references an intersection of time and space.
This vivid, abstract work has undulating, organic forms outlined in layers of electric neon yellow, magenta, blue, orange, and purple. Ovals, loops, and biomorphic shapes pulse on the canvas bordered by contrasting hues. Scattered dots bring the eye in to examine the texture and rhythm of the shapes on a dark background which intensifies the saturated colors.
This painting evokes a deep, cosmic atmosphere— a window into dark space. The overall palette is richly saturated with purple, black, and deep blue, punctuated by highlights of violet, lavender, bits of pale blue, white, and some yellow. Brushstrokes are layered, creating an immersive sense of depth. There is a nebula-like motion to the marks, and areas which look like they’re pulsing. Dotted lines of white and yellow drift through the work like constellations. The two sides of the work glow with light on the bottom and right edges as streaks of yellow and violet introduce a sense of illumination or emergence from darkness. The painting is powerfully ambiguous. It can be read as both macroscopic (space, galaxies, and dark matter) or microscopic.

Videos

  • This is the surface of the painting Lagoon.

    See more information about This is the surface of the painting Lagoon.
    This is the surface of one of my favorite paintings, Lagoon. It is painted on a heavy printmaker's paper and measures 50"H x 38" W. This piece was painted with my hands and the surface is richly textured, it feels almost like polished leather
    Medium: Acrylic
    Year: 1989
    Details: 50"H x 38"W

Written Works