Exhibit Statements
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Two things I should say about this series.
It is about the intersection of chaos and order – energy expressed with the stroke of brush, palette knife, graphite stick, sandpaper, pencil stubs and dental tools up against a precise line or smooth surface left untouched.
This iconic house shape inserted itself into my work this past year, and I have embraced it for what it lends graphically to the composition as well as for its capabilities in storytelling. The work is a combined response to childhood memories, the landscape of the fields where I live, and the awareness of what building, leaving, creating, and losing a home, both figuratively and literally, can mean in the human experience.
boundaries: ll
A few years back the first series of “boundaries” paintings were the beginning of an exploration of ideas and images of boundaries and the role they play in my life. This series of paintings on pine board and panel is an extension of that study.
I see fences, a lot of them, on my daily drive into town. There are fences in town as well, and everywhere my eye gets caught by the play of the line of the wire, wood, and steel against the fields and the sky. Seeing through one boundary line into the next and how it creates shapes that change depending on the angle of my perspective inspires me.
Boundaries help to define the spaces I have to work within. While some boundaries can be pushed, crossed, or ignored, others are to be respected, maintained, fortified, and defined. There are boundaries that are restrictive and there are times when the boundary is non-existent, the opportunities boundless.
I think about and paint boundaries in the figurative, as a metaphor for physical and emotional boundaries. Somewhere in these images I hope you are able to see your own boundaries as well, the ones to be crossed and the ones to be respected.
the up and down of it
This series was inspired on several fronts. My last exhibit, “boundaries” was a literal and figurative exploration of fences.Occasionally I would be asked if they were fences or ladders, and as I turned the work on end, the exploration became a study in looking for a way over, up, around, out of, and sometimes, deeper in. About that same time, on a visit with my former art professor, Abner Hershberger, I was introduced to thin masking tape. Soon after, I began to use the tape as my drawing tool. And then I came across my mom’s palette knife from her brief exploration in painting, which became my brush.
Thus began the “up and down of it”.
In addition to conceptualizing and designing each piece, I work intuitively and in response to what is happening on the canvas, leaving space for the unexpected. Through the use of color, line, texture and shape the work comes to life, with expression and energy. Much like life, each piece requires a different approach: sometimes layering it on thick, other times stripping down, and then knowing when to stop.
The imagery of the ladder and its’ significance in cultural and religious context is meaningful philosophically and metaphorically. But outside of that, the lines of the ladder traverse the plane and create a visual direction and handle in which to interact with the art. It is my goal in this series to create work that resonates with the viewer on some level, visual or visceral, and to temper it with a touch of whimsy.
boundaries: series I
This series of work began 2 years ago when I set up boundaries for my work in my return to the studio after a 12 year hiatus. It was through that exercise that I began to explore the ideas and images of boundaries and the role they play in my life.
I see fences, a lot of them, on my daily drive into town. There are fences in town as well, and everywhere my eye gets caught by the play of the line of the wire, wood, and steel against the fields and the sky. Seeing through one boundary line into the next and how it creates shapes that change depending on the angle of my perspective inspires me.
Boundaries help to define the spaces I have to work within, as well as to serve the function of keeping out that which I don’t desire and keeping in what I want secure, or private. While some boundaries can be pushed, crossed, or ignored, others are to be respected, maintained, fortified, and defined. There are boundaries that are restrictive and there are times when the boundary is non-existent, the opportunities boundless.
I think about and paint boundaries in the figurative, as a metaphor for physical and emotional boundaries in life. I believe that boundaries are a part of the human experience, so somewhere in these images I hope you are able to see your own boundaries as well.
12x12
Twelve years after my first daughter was born and twelve years since I worked to create a solid body of art I began this series I call 12x12. Through those dozen years, I stored countless visual images, taking mental notes, remembering.
After 12 years, the idea of returning to work was a bit daunting. To overcome the intimidation that I felt at facing blank canvas again, I gave myself the discipline of creating 12 pieces, 12 inches by 12 inches square to begin to express those 12 years of gestation. This series is about those images, remembering, and what it meant to begin again.