Elements born in the seventies mature into Ekstrom’s signature style.  Graphite was his medium of choice as the pencil allowed Ekstrom to explore the effects of line and shape.

 “The line or graphic quality is seen at the same time it produces an image. This occurs more than in painting.  It’s a curious quality – something out of nothing.”

 Borrowing a technique from the cubist, Ekstrom used layers of imagery to create depth; in cubism, depth was achieved through layering images on top of one another as opposed to foreshortening an image.  Why?  The layered approach allows the patterns of a composition to remain prominent, whereas suggesting depth through perspective by foreshortening, guides the viewer’s eye to look through a composition and not at it.

Art historian and artist Bill Behnken likens Ekstrom’s style similar to Precisionism; between roughly 1915 -1941, Precisionism came about as a reaction to Cubism in Europe and is considered an outgrowth of Cubism in America.  Precisionist focused on the abstract aesthetic of the growing mechanization of the world and the beauty of form following function.  It’s hard to deny the similarities of Ekstrom’s work compared with two of the leading artist of the movement back in the day, Louis Lozowick and Charles Demuth:                                

For the next couple of decades, Ekstrom honed his style exploring, manipulating and mastering the effects of line shape and tone. 

#Z-11, “Bird”, 1991, pastel and prisma, 30″x40″

#Z-12, “Balance Point”, “Analytic”, 1993, 30″x40″

#203, 30″x40″

#Z-1, 78″sq.

#214, “Choices” possibly mid 1980s, 30″x40″

#z-38, 30″x40″ (other side)

#Z-16, 30″x40″

#15, “Tinker Taylor” 1982, 30″x40″

#L-11, 48″ sq.

#212, 30″x30″

“Dangerous Waters”, 1980s-90s, 40″x30″

#274, late 70s-80s, 30″x40″

#270, 22″x30″

#L-5, 48″sq.

#211, 30″x40″

#277, 30″X40″

#209, 1984-revised 1989, 30″x40″

#208, 30″x40″

#201, 30″x40″

#205, 30″x40″

#204, 30″x40″

#200-b, 30″x40″

#199, 30″x40″

#199, 30″x40″

#197, 30″x40″

#194, 30″x40″

#193, 30″x40″

#192, 30″x40″

#191, 30″x40″

#195, 30″x40″

#195, 30″x40″

#195, 30″x40″

#189, 30″x40″ alt.

#188, 22″x30″

#185, 22″x 30″

#180, 40″x30″

#168, 22″x28″

#153, “Scramble”1985, 40″x30”

#149, 1987, 40″x30″

#148, 30″x45″

“The Correct Route”, 30″x40″

“Shimmer”, 30″x40″

“Mezzanine Next “30”x40″

“Starflight”, 30″x40″

“Perimeter movement’, 30″x40”

“Passing Thoughts”, 30″x40″

#173, 22″x30″

#131, 30″x40″