Wayne White brings a deadpan sensibility and sense of humor to the table when constructing his images. Even before he puts a stroke down on a surface, White taps into American pop culture by constructing sayings and phrases, “That Shit was Deep” and “Dude Starts Freakin”, that seem common place in everyday vernacular.
Taking his linguistic base, White morphs and dilutes his text into compositions that equally reference the slanted perspective of Surrealism while also bringing to mind the architectural references of Paul Noble and Ed Ruscha.
White started his artistic career as a successful production designer of music videos and children's television programming, including the late-'8os Saturday morning hit Pee-Wee's Playhouse. Honing his craft as a puppeteer and set designer, White brings a believability and realism to his work that is often at odds with the absurdity of his subject matter: making it almost possible that on an interstate somewhere, there’s a sun bleached “Dude Starts Freakin” sign.