The point of being a visual artist is to create things that others can participate in. To do that requires, in our society, self-promotion and visibility. Art intended as an expression of joy becomes co-opted by the forces of materialism. Who I am is not important. I hope you enjoy this work, that it brings you a little peace, love and energy to become your best self, a good human being, a wish for myself also.
That said, here are some words about my artmaking.
I make use of discarded objects, trash such as net produce bags, as a form of “paint.” The grid patterns, which sometimes are made with plastic and sometimes with paint, form a contrast to free-flowing forms. Of course this work is also about color experiments, especially attempts to put together colors in surprising ways, as much surprising to me as to the viewer.
This work primarily is about process, and has meaning on multiple levels. First there is the joy of watching what paint does, and experimenting with different ways it interacts with objects, both intentionally and accidentally utilized. The omnipresent object is the surface, normally called a “canvas.” The images are built up from layers upon layers of acrylic paint and found objects poured or brushed onto raw canvas.
Lately I have been exploring deconstruction of the painting surface, tearing painted paper and reassembling the original rectangle into various shapes, held together with produce bags and other trash. I have been investigating negative space, what is not there. The resulting fragile object requires support, and therefore I have been sewing the paper onto bird netting. This process requires enclosure in a plexiglass box for the sake of preservation.
In all my work I experiment with thickness and thinness of paint, the effects of different mediums, including glue and paint, and incorporate the 3-D effects caused by using raw unstretched canvas or paper. Many pieces are intended to be nailed to the wall as a “skin,” and not framed. I question the process of framing, what it does to a piece, making it into a categorizable type of object called a painting.
There is a symbolic, highly referential aspect to the work. Many of the pieces are development of the idea of “enso,” the Zen symbol of nothingness, made with a single brushstroke or gesture. Even though the original circle, layered with mesh and thick paint, may be no longer visible, the nothingness underlying existence remains, symbolic of my own spiritual journey. A corollary conceptual theme is the richness of life, created out of nothing, and yet full of forms, depth of space, and above all light and dark. Therefore these works are about my attempts to express the paradox of nothingness and everything-ness. Rivers and running water play an important part in my imagery, symbolizing the flow of energy which never repeats itself, is always creating.
Rather than finished products, I offer remnants of the process of artmaking. They were alive when I watched the paint interact with surfaces. Now they are like the skins of dead animals–I hope bringing beauty, joy or insight, but no longer living and breathing.