Brandon Sines has a poetic ability to share intimate moments laced with popular imagery. He creates paintings dripping in personal narrative and puddled with external references. They are immediate both in subject and use of material, yet there is an intangible aspect that beckons the active imagination. He mixes Pop Art’s mass culture, Surrealism’s private associations, and the intuitive paint handling of Expressionism to create dreamlike environments.

Shortly after moving to New York City in 2010, Sines combined his use of mythological creatures, pop icons, and made up characters into a new character called Frank. Frank is an ´´ape´´ that often takes the form of a cartoon, but is no doubt a reference to Sines himself. Frank explores human issues without human restrictions. Sines began installing Frank around the city, and Frank became an instant street art fixture most likely due to Sines’ special gift of empathy.

The birth of Frank and the move to New York City was a pivotal time for Sines. His inspiration soared from the constant stimulus of the city. With Frank, he had found a way to bring the autobiographical undertones in his work to the surface with a playful character who was instantly accessible to everyone. Much like New York enables both anonymity and stardom, Frank gave Sines the ability to be invisible yet fully present in his work. This added a deeper sincerity to his paintings.

The new scope of his studio practice dramatically elevated his paint-handling. Sines never received a formal art education, and one of his strengths is that his use of paint developed from pure necessity. His mark-making ranges from expressive brush strokes to illustrative precision. This juxtaposition gives his paintings the feeling of being recalled from memory. Some parts are crystal clear, other parts are barely tangible.