Studio 2 - Process for course work
During my final critique for last quarter I realized that my body of work holds strength
even without a literal narrative. The happening that my subjects were a part of is a drop
in the bucket of my core intention, togetherness. This nebulous aesthetic, that results
from my spray paint technique, drives this sense of togetherness by-means-of an
analogy of the scientific reality that we all come from space dust. Nebulas, or molecular
clouds, hold everything needed to give birth to stars, planets, and eco-systems. We are
not separate from the cosmos but instead a part of it, as we are also a part of each
other. Doesn't it seem serendipitously fitting that when looking at the variety of beautiful
colors, shapes and textures within the deep space photos depicting molecular clouds,
galaxies and distant stars that one can not help but feel something along the scope of
love? This realization is at least a launching point to pursue the unknown qualities
waiting to be resolved in this body of work.
Utilizing literal gravity as a means of gestural improvisation while consciously rendering subjects that are overtaken by the illusion of gravity drives my compositions. When the subject teeters on and off of the edge of the frame they are teetering on and off of the edge of awareness. Figures rise, float, glide and fall through space as they traverse in and out of history’s memory. Some stories are never told, instead they get lost to the void of misinformation. In a similar way, some compositions are never realized. Having less control over the lines, shapes, and gradients within the spray-painted texture allows me to create something truly unexpected. Wet pools of paint slide and drip in every direction as I continue to add more wet pools of paint. Nature takes control and I have learned to trust its decisions. Over sprays of contrasting hues create optically mixed textures enabling a push and pull of an illusion of nonobjective atmospheric perspective. Meanwhile I allow my realistically rendered subjects to push and pull from opacity to transparency as a reflection of their cause. I plan on using a variety of smaller canvases. I usually work bigger but this challenge will allow me to hone in on quality compositions and economy of the mark, instead of relying on large scale work to push the illusion of quality and initial gut-punch reaction.
These paintings show the next step in this process, where I am abandoning the reference and pulling out forms with a push and pull additive and subtractive process. When layers of spray paint are pooled and mixed wet on wet on the canvas they are easily subtracted with the slightest touch. the marks made here are made with a brush taking off the top layer so that the underpainting becomes a source for the color and value of the lines and textures that make up the composition. I plan to continue to render the representational elements further but minimalistically. The painting showing a face in profile is considered a self portrait but I am not going for a literal likeness. Same goes for the piece showing a face from the front, this is intended to be a painting of my mother but in the end might not hold a physical reference but instead an expression of her existence.
Utilizing literal gravity as a means of gestural improvisation while consciously rendering subjects that are overtaken by the illusion of gravity drives my compositions. When the subject teeters on and off of the edge of the frame they are teetering on and off of the edge of awareness. Figures rise, float, glide and fall through space as they traverse in and out of history’s memory. Some stories are never told, instead they get lost to the void of misinformation. In a similar way, some compositions are never realized. Having less control over the lines, shapes, and gradients within the spray-painted texture allows me to create something truly unexpected. Wet pools of paint slide and drip in every direction as I continue to add more wet pools of paint. Nature takes control and I have learned to trust its decisions. Over sprays of contrasting hues create optically mixed textures enabling a push and pull of an illusion of nonobjective atmospheric perspective. Meanwhile I allow my realistically rendered subjects to push and pull from opacity to transparency as a reflection of their cause. I plan on using a variety of smaller canvases. I usually work bigger but this challenge will allow me to hone in on quality compositions and economy of the mark, instead of relying on large scale work to push the illusion of quality and initial gut-punch reaction.
These paintings show the next step in this process, where I am abandoning the reference and pulling out forms with a push and pull additive and subtractive process. When layers of spray paint are pooled and mixed wet on wet on the canvas they are easily subtracted with the slightest touch. the marks made here are made with a brush taking off the top layer so that the underpainting becomes a source for the color and value of the lines and textures that make up the composition. I plan to continue to render the representational elements further but minimalistically. The painting showing a face in profile is considered a self portrait but I am not going for a literal likeness. Same goes for the piece showing a face from the front, this is intended to be a painting of my mother but in the end might not hold a physical reference but instead an expression of her existence.
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