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Adam Caldwell is a painter and draftsman whose work juxtaposes abstract expressionism with classical figuration, using oil paint to build layered, psychologically charged compositions. Trained at the California College of Arts and Crafts, Caldwell developed an early practice of collage drawing that informs his current approach: beginning with abstract grounds and gradually introducing more photorealistic details, allowing each work to dictate its own construction. The resulting palimpsests of figures and forms reflect conflicted, paradoxical emotional states and explore tensions between mind and body, self and other, and present and past. Deeply attuned to the social and political climate, Caldwell’s paintings frequently address issues of identity, gender, and sexuality, while also responding to war and consumerism through the collision of imagery drawn from American advertising, popular culture, and global ritual.