“I’m certainly no purist (with regard to ‘wood working’), so traditional craftsman will have to forgive the fact that my focus is elsewhere. I simply love to work with the material, as a painter relishes his paint. Yes, ‘the medium is the message’, ‘form IS content’ etc., those old academic saws are valid… but in the case of my works in wood, the medium serves my own more deliberate message or allusion. In addition to my enjoying the process of working with wood, I feel that it offers a visual richness and tactility that instinctively engages folks quite immediately, and perhaps invites them to stay a bit longer to explore what might be there.” After completing his MFA studies in printmaking and painting, Phil Foster found himself in the NYC area, and serendipitously began working as a freelance editorial illustrator in 1985.  Represented by Gerald & Cullen Rapp in NYC, Phil worked for myriad national magazines and newspapers for 38 years, electing to retire from editorial work in 2024 to dedicate his time to his personal art.   His personal woodworks bear the influence of those “editorial years” as his work often emerges from social/cultural observations, resulting in work which pivots from somber reflections to the deliberately whimsical.  Wood is the core medium throughout Phil’s work, with minor migrations that incorporate other useful mixed materials. Phil received his B.F.A. in painting from Utah State University in 1982 and his M.F.A. degree in printmaking from Wichita State University in 1985. Website: www.pefoster.com