ABOUT IRIS SCOTT

Iris Scott has made a career around a fundamental inquiry: must the paintbrush be the only tool?

From 2009 to 2019, Iris committed herself exclusively to finger painting, a decision that eventually took her to New York City. There, she lived and worked in a renovated factory loft in the heart of Brooklyn. The city’s dynamic energy provided the magic Iris needed to elevate finger painting to new heights. Her work earned her representation with Filo Sofi Arts, and her 2019 solo show, Ritual in Pairing, held in Chelsea, was praised by Jerry Saltz and covered by esteemed outlets, including New York Magazine, Smithsonian Magazine, and Artnet.

Yet all chapters fade to make space for new adventures. As Iris approached the age of 34, the enchantment of city life dimmed, sparking a desire to seek a remote, off-grid existence. In 2019, she and her husband relocated to a secluded corner of Northern New Mexico. Over the next two years, they built a sanctuary: a house and a studio on a sprawling 500-acre parcel. In 2023, amidst this transformative period, Iris welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world.

With change stirring in the air, Iris felt a yearning for artistic metamorphosis. She craved the thrill of discovering a new medium beyond the paintbrush. The revelation of finger painting a decade earlier had ignited her creativity and launched her career, and she sensed it was time for another significant shift. But what form would it take?

Fate intervened once again. In 2020, while using her shop air compressor to remove dust from a finger painting, Iris accidentally punctured a section of wet paint with high-pressure air. The result was a mesmerizing, dimensional mark on the canvas—like a microscopic cell brimming with possibility. Enthralled, Iris embarked on an odyssey of experimentation with what she would later call “air-painting.”

Just as finger painting had chosen Iris a decade earlier, this serendipitous discovery reignited her imagination. Since 2020, she has explored the possibilities of manipulating paint with high-pressure air, producing exhilarating results. Today, Iris integrates finger painting, air-painting, palette knives, and brushes into her practice as the muse dictates. While the first decade of her career was shaped by the constraints of finger painting, the next promises boundless freedom, with an expansive range of techniques, tools, subjects, and styles.