THE EROSION SERIES
The Erosion Series is about seeing the beauty in the natural event of decay and building an aesthetic around it. I have recently focused this series on abstract botanical imagery derived from tending my Magnolia tree. These modern botanicals and pod/seed/leaf images are either built in layers on panel or embedded within strips that form weavings representing the fiber of life. Like the Japanese wabi-sabi (侘寂), a world view centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection (Wikipedia), I repurpose and create new life out of past work or begin anew on fresh panels or paper. Inside the studio and out — observing the natural decay of the life cycle has made me appreciate that within reduction the more possibility there will be.
ABSTRACT PAINTINGS
As I quietly paint, I have both decisive moments and an earnest, listening eye. What occurs in the midst of this is nuance, happy accidents, intuitive associations, chaos, humor, brooding and reduction. Working with abstraction allows me to explore the boundaries between positive and negative space, the use of unusual textures and the mixing of different media. I begin this work flat while adding and subtracting subtle and intense color as well as exploring various types of heavy texture. I allow the water based media to flow and puddle in the valley’s of marks and texture that were first laid down gradually adding multiple layers that begin to form the basis of the botanicals. Once color and chaos is achieved across the surface, the pieces then go up on my painting wall where I begin the reduction process. Making these paintings is as much a physical experience as a psychological one. I embrace and process the nuances of this work and use the outcome as a vehicle to communicate a narrative about the natural world around me that exists outside of language.
WEAVINGS
LIFE IS A LOOM, WEAVING ILLUSION. Vachel Lindsay
This direction was started with sandpaper remnants from the reduction process of my Erosion Series panels. I’m a big believer in repurposing materials in the studio just as nature uses everything that decays to create new life. Using discarded paintings on Arches 300 LB watercolor paper, I start by painting over the existing piece allowing areas that I like to remain. The weavings begin with the vertical strips, (the warp), as this is the foundation of the composition. The horizontal strips, (the weft), are examined, used or discarded in an intuitive approach as I continue to construct the weaving.
In Large Scale Weaving #3, I introduced a large pod shape as a bridge from the Pod paintings. The dark brown/black area of the pod was created with an “oil spill” — a large area of liquid asphalt suspended in oil base polyurethane. I chose rebar for the armature — a product of the industrial revolution which is the single most corrosive contributor of the Earth's climate change.
The final step is the stitching with waxed thread that connects me with my late Mother who was a seamstress & nurse. The long strands left with the tie-off at the bottom represent hair roots. All life is interwoven—the removal of one strand begins the fraying process and makes the weaving incomplete.
BOOK ARTS
Every book project is a wonderful puzzle that requires a different approach for each concept and binding method that is pursued. In WEAVE (Live), I created a visual chronology of the stages of life through sandpaper weavings and chose coptic binding for the openness of the exposed spine + the ancient quality that works well with weaving. For Ode to Sumi Ink, I chose the accordion fold to highlight the flowing nature of sumi ink as this binding method is one long sheet. With aperçu, I bound 28 disparate pages together with the miniature tied binding method as this suited the overall concept of using up bits of discarded art elements & copy and highlights how every art endeavor leads to the next.
Through a wonderful group of fellow book artists I have come to love the complexity and simplicity of the craft. Book Arts @ The Open Press here in Chattanooga has opened a whole new doorway in the house of art that I have gladly stepped through.