Pattern Play (more at "New Works")
Several years ago I was fortunate to see an exhibit of acrylic paintings by native Australian artists from the Alice Springs area. I was enchanted by the feel of the loose, piled-up canvasses and soon after started painting on unstretched canvas myself. The choice was a practical one - my large, boxy paintings on wood were a big hassle to store and hang - but also I fell for the texture of the canvas and its inherent depth which lends a three-dimensionality to every stroke. The weave of the surface made my first marks seem like they were part of a grid in space and I started a series of experiments with simple patterns. As I continue to work these paintings, my affinity for Geometric shapes has to reckon with my love of the rough and imprecise; patterns can be templates for copy work but when created by the human hand the copies take on flaws and idiosyncrasies which I love to respond to artistically.
The Pattern Play paintings are a bit like puzzles for me, but some elements take on the feel of interacting souls. My usual “head” shapes, squares and circles relate to each other with color, distance, movement and expression, which helps to animate my process.
Many of these paintings begin as play - just combining colors the way I did as a child, instinctively, for fun, and moving to the canvas only after I’ve chosen most of the palette.
The Pattern Play paintings are a bit like puzzles for me, but some elements take on the feel of interacting souls. My usual “head” shapes, squares and circles relate to each other with color, distance, movement and expression, which helps to animate my process.
Many of these paintings begin as play - just combining colors the way I did as a child, instinctively, for fun, and moving to the canvas only after I’ve chosen most of the palette.
The Clockworks
In these paintings, I try to express the degree to which we have become enmeshed with our own insidious invention of time measurement. The Clockworks cycle through the human life span with vignettes that depict interactions of different aged people with their perception of time passage: the gradual indoctrination of our young away from their instinctual rhythms, the struggle of adults to experience presence in the moment, and the potential to eventually let go of the arbitrary system of time-telling entirely.
From preliminary studies, most of which were made in one sitting, the paintings took two years to complete. I’ve experimented with high contrast values of simple forms and the challenging integration of collage and gold-leafed compositional “clock parts” as well. The frames are custom-built of wood with gold leaf and have backward-facing sides which lend an opened out, exposed feel to the paintings.
From preliminary studies, most of which were made in one sitting, the paintings took two years to complete. I’ve experimented with high contrast values of simple forms and the challenging integration of collage and gold-leafed compositional “clock parts” as well. The frames are custom-built of wood with gold leaf and have backward-facing sides which lend an opened out, exposed feel to the paintings.
The Madras Series
The Madras paintings are isolated studies, each a product of historical context in an atmosphere of limited hue. They come from a desire to explore properties of individual colors in simple palettes and to work color across the surface as in a weaving. The title of these paintings comes from what I feel is their resemblance to Madras plaid textiles. As these surfaces layer over and through each other, they develop relationships and the piece accrues history.
As with paintings I’ve made in the past, I still perceive the finished works as wall-like surfaces. They disclose the handling and weathering, light and shadows of time’s passage. Most have silhouettes in the top layers - a head, an arm. I'd like to further investigate this shadow and its source. Does it originate from the artist, from a soul in the historical past of the “wall” or from the viewer, cast forward upon the piece?
As with paintings I’ve made in the past, I still perceive the finished works as wall-like surfaces. They disclose the handling and weathering, light and shadows of time’s passage. Most have silhouettes in the top layers - a head, an arm. I'd like to further investigate this shadow and its source. Does it originate from the artist, from a soul in the historical past of the “wall” or from the viewer, cast forward upon the piece?
Figures - large abstract figures on wood with molded approx. 4" gold-leafed sides
