• Raised in Austin, Texas.
• Graduated from University of Texas, BFA in sculpture.
• Returned to Austin in 1997, after 10 years in New York City.

Adam Finch Palter was born on May Day, 1963, in Cook County Hospital in Chicago. It took just one Midwest winter to convince him to head south to the heart of Texas, where he grew up in the Austin Hill Country.

In 1987, after many adventures in and around town, Finch received a BFA in sculpture from the University of Texas. But the lure of European art and history beckoned, so he grabbed his backback and headed to the Continent. He washed dishes at a boarding school in England, created miniature collages in Amsterdam and Greece, picked apples at a kibbutz in Israel, meditated at the pyramids in Cairo and visited every museum he could find. After 12 glorious months abroad, the money dried up, and Finch found himself in New York City where, in short order, he landed a series of jobs in printing and in the graphics industry, culminating as an Art Director at PolyGram Records, Inc. where he worked in several roles from 1991-1997.

He remained in the Big Apple for nearly 10 years. Besides working midtown and downtown, he created paintings and collages on any surface that did not move, including canvas, board, furniture, screens, globes, columns, hubcaps, and even a snow sled. There were shows, too: in 1990, as part of Collection of New Emerging Contemporary Artists, at Wetherholt Galleries in Washington, DC; and in 1993 and 1996, at Jadite Galleries in NYC. (He also threw frisbees in Central Park, acquired two cats, met and married his wife, Donna, and shaved his head.)

Finch returned to Austin in 1997 (with wife and cats) to escape the increasing cold and crowds of NYC, and to reinvigorate his career in commissioned artwork. He has had numerous one-person shows in the past six years, has sold a variety of commissioned pieces, and exhibits at various venues throughout Austin.

Artist Statement

My main art influence is the Russian Constructivist movement – specifically Kazimir Malevich (1878-1935) – whose energetic combination of color and shape has always fascinated me, and I strive to capture the singular use of angular form as well as the constructive processes employed in that art movement.

Equally inspirational are Kurt Schwitters’ assemblages and colláges, and Picasso's Cubist works. Like these artists, my abstract designs evolve through geometric constructions that are studies in visual design. I think of them as being "built" as much as painted. To this end, I seek a certain visual symmetry through my choice of color palette and in the juxtaposition of forms.

My colláges and my new series of assemblages tend to be more personal: they reflect a blend of graphic imagery gleaned from my experience in the graphic design and high tech industries. I often manipulate my graphics through computer technology. Within all of my work, the multi-colored geometric shapes incorporate straight edges with intricate brushwork to achieve a blend of colors that sometimes mimics airbrush techniques.