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Born in 1989, Dayton, OH Tyler Macko is a self-taught artist whose foundational aesthetic was shaped by the domestic world of his childhood. His grandmother's still-life paintings, the intricate designs of childhood rugs, dolls, maps, lattice-topped berry pies, and needlepoint art are all deeply embedded in his memory. Based in the Shields River Valley of Montana, Macko collects materials wherever he goes, including scraps from his ranch, remnants of local abandonment, bones, pennies, old farm tools, and carved wood—to construct his wall-mounted "paintings." Although they incorporate three-dimensional objects and elements of assemblage, he rejects those academic labels, instead referring to them as "paintings" to emphasize accessibility and avoid gatekeeping. Each work unfolds over time, often taking months or even years to coalesce into a revealing, harmonious whole. Macko's work navigates the tension between domesticity, consumption, memory, loss, and the fading glow of Americana. By repurposing motifs from decorative art—rugs adorned with stags, bears, tile-like patterns, and other familiar Midwestern imagery — he weaves narratives of cultural legacy, personal history, and familial mythos. Macko's recent work delves into the intimate and introspective nature of his practice, anchoring each piece in both place and feeling. His process is guided as much by intuition as by materiality. He collects found objects—bits of glass, sticks, pennies, arrowheads, detritus that resonate with personal or symbolic significance, layering them until the composition resolves into a unified presence. Influenced by the foundational principles of collage and assemblage, Macko approaches each artwork as a piece of a larger, ever-evolving whole—an infinite "super deep painting." This approach reflects the multilayered nature of memory and selfhood, with each creation serving as a repository of lived experience and emotional resonance. Far from being ornamental, his works aim to tap into something deeply universal. They offer viewers a space for reflection and recognition—a subtle but powerful sense of connection, comfort, and belonging within the expansive cycles of life.
