Daniel McClendon (b. 1985 in Chicago) graduated from Western Michigan University with his BFA—emphasis in painting realism. Shorty after graduating he relocated to Asheville, NC, where he maintained this focus on realism and began painting full time. Today, Daniel’s paintings are process focused and examine the connectivity of instinct, impulsive action, and identity. The work begins non-objectively in the form of a chaotic black and white abstract painting, and from there the animal— a central figure in all his works—emerges. These animals, created from a variety of colors, patterns, textures, forms, and symbols, take on the role of both a totem as well as the embodiment of instinct itself.