"Building 1"

Michael DeSutter’s series On The Rote Path marks an early exploration into his growing awareness of the routines that now shape his life. Through this body of work, DeSutter reflects on the realization that life is not defined entirely by spontaneity—if it ever was—and that routine can provide a meaningful foundation for living. This understanding takes visual form in the repetition of straight lines and “broken” corners, symbolic of common paths and the gradual wear they endure over time. As with many of his recent works, these pieces are created on vintage stamp album pages, reminiscent of those his grandfather used to collect stamps as a boy. For DeSutter, the choice of surface serves as both a nod to personal history and an apt method of cataloging his process of discovery.