Jan Dickey (b. 1985) is a Brooklyn-based painter whose work investigates paint as a physical and responsive material rather than a purely representational medium. Working with hand-ground pigments mixed with natural binders—including egg, oil, and plant- and animal-derived glues—Dickey constructs complex surfaces through extensive layering, compression, sanding, and excavation. These processes allow the material to assert itself, producing cracks, peels, and shifts that recall geological or organic formations.

Composition functions in Dickey’s work as both a structuring force and a site of tension. While he acknowledges composition as an act of imposing order onto raw space and matter, he actively undermines this control by incorporating chance-driven elements into the process. Recent paintings are guided by fleeting patterns of light entering his studio, which serve as temporal frameworks rather than fixed plans. Unpredictable paint behavior and environmental conditions play a central role in directing the evolution of each work, resulting in surfaces that balance intention with material autonomy.