McNeill: Continues to create artwork 'outside the box'  For more than a decade, this artist has been combining multiple-dimensions of subject matter and intertwining different layers of composition between ornate relief woodcarvings and colorful painted imagery.  In essence, McNeill has been developing, refining and creating a new multidimensional art form.  These achievements have not gone unnoticed; in 2001, he was the inaugural recipient of the Dexter Jones Award, NYC's National Sculpture Society's Award for outstanding bas-relief sculpture.  Continually “pushing the envelope”, McNeill has developed another unique art form by creating colorful relief wall sculptures that 'glow-in-the-dark' all night long.  

Scott McNeill will open his exhibition of new work at West Valley Art Museum on December 14, 2007. McNeill, a wood carving artist whose unusual bas-reliefs with paintings on them that work in relation to but are still different from the carving itself, first showed his work at the Museum in the “Rings of Time” exhibition in 1999. He later had a one man show at the Museum in 2003.

McNeill’s early pieces were in linden wood, a hand carved style he developed while learning as an apprentice in Honduras from 1994-1996. Always ready to surprise his growing base of admirers, the new work departs from the material of painted wood and delves into the world of plastics and resins. Not content with the lengthy carving time to realize a single sculpture and interested in pushing the boundaries once again, Scott experimented with casting materials that would have unusual color properties. He hit on a light sensitive material that would absorb ultraviolet light and would glow with one set of colors in the dark, and look different under normal lighting.

The idea had instant appeal to Scott, since it was another version of being multi-dimensional, this time in a different direction. The exhibit in the Heffernon Room Gallery will be set with special lighting to charge the sculptures and will have alternative lighting to show off the startling effects of the new material applied to an art form. Small versions of the glow series will be available in the Museum Store during the exhibition.

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The Art of Scott McNeill: The Glow Series

West Valley Art Museum

Dec 14, 2007 - March 16, 2008