Artist Clay Mahn in his studio working on a distressed green canvas with beige dots.

Clay Mahn invites us inside the studio and shows us his works in progress.

Minimalist canvases in-progress in artist Clay Mahn's studio.
Close-up of terracotta painting by artist Clay Mahn.
Close-up of a terracotta-colored canvas with diamond pattern by artist Clay Mahn.

My painting is an act of exploring the peculiar, and probing the fundamentals of visual rhythm. I like the idea of working within certain parameters, like painting in monochrome or allowing myself a single minimal gesture.

Clay Mahn

Bottles on a table at Clay Mahn's studio.
Aerial view of artist Clay Mahn working on a distressed green canvas in his studio.
Distressed green painting with beige dotted pattern by artist Clay Mahn.

The sides of my paintings have become an ever-evolving development in my process. As paintings get worked, layered over, and reconceived, the detritus that accumulates on their edges becomes very much a part of the finished piece. The thin planes present a disorderly history in direct conflict with the manicured and flattened frontal image - a sort of flesh under the facade.

Clay Mahn

Close-up of minimalist, distressed canvas with small blue and red circles by artist Clay Mahn.
A minimalist, geometric painting in artist Clay Mahn's studio.
Minimalist, blue and red paintings on a table in artist Clay Mahn's studio.