A Bit of earth that laughed 13" x 40" $600
What A Strange Machine Man Is 36" x 80" $3600
Education:
SYMS School Of Music 1994-96
Maine School Of Science And Mathematics 1996-98
The University of Chicago (Concentration in philosophy and literature)
Art Students League Of New York 2002-04
Solo Exhibition:
Shenandoah Valley Art Center ìArchitecture of a Dreamî
Waynesboro, VA 2010
Group Exhibitions:
Virginia Contemporary Art Museum ìBest of the Bestî
Norfolk, VA 2009
Juried shows:
Miami Beach, FL 2010 -First Place
Portsmouth, VA 2010 -Second Place
Bayou City, Houston TX 2010
Bethesda Row Arts Festival 2009
Publications:
Cover Art For The Jazz Album, ìIn My Own Sweet Timeî by Pandemusicum
Public Collections:
Richardson, Whitman, Large and Badger
Portland, ME
Private Collections:
Cindy and David Fuller, Verona VA
John and Kim Gifford, Alexandria, VA
Terry and Nan Hall, Altoona, MI
Ed Bintz, Arlington, VA
Damon Rahbar-Daniels and Emily Abbot, Houston, TX
Raymond E Mattison, San Luis Obispo, CA
Alfred and Judith Osborne, Houston, TX
Education:
SYMS School Of Music 1994-96
Maine School Of Science And Mathematics 1996-98
The University of Chicago (Concentration in philosophy and literature)
Art Students League Of New York 2002-04
Solo Exhibition:
Shenandoah Valley Art Center “Architecture of a Dream”
Waynesboro, VA 2010
Group Exhibitions:
Virginia Contemporary Art Museum “Best of the Best”
Norfolk, VA 2009
Juried shows:
Miami Beach, FL 2010 -First Place
Portsmouth, VA 2010 -Second Place
Bayou City, Houston TX 2010
Bethesda Row Arts Festival 2009
Publications:
Cover Art For The Jazz Album, “In My Own Sweet Time” by Pandemusicum
Public Collections:
Richardson, Whitman, Large and Badger
Portland, ME
Private Collections:
Cindy and David Fuller, Verona VA
John and Kim Gifford, Alexandria, VA
Terry and Nan Hall, Altoona, MI
Ed Bintz, Arlington, VA
Damon Rahbar-Daniels and Emily Abbot, Houston, TX
Raymond E Mattison, San Luis Obispo, CA
Alfred and Judith Osborne, Houston, TX
Artist Statement
Art is my university education. It is a way for me to study the time
and world that I live in. I write poetry from solid ground with a clear
voice; the collage element is where I work my ideas into clarity with
experimentation, questioning and guesses. The challenge of poetry and
collage are the same: elaborate a richness for the soul from a simple
form, suppressing everything that is useless.
I come to collage by way of training in mathematics and physics,
a passion for music, a friendship with literature, and a commitment to
philosophy. These interests have a tendency to pull the imagination into
different directions, in collage however, I have found a format in which
these fields of interest can work together to speak for me.
In this body of work I am focused on creating a harmony between
discordant ideas such as calm and movement, straight and curved, odd
and even, limited and unlimited, nature and science, unity and
multiplicity, dark and light. I use classical and modern cubistic forms
which have defined the aesthetics of western culture and I combine
them with a version of Chinese storytelling in which the written word is
formed into visual art. For subjects I choose things which are fragile, but
also impossible to destroy. Fragile because they are quiet, private
moments which are easily missed in our loud, busy lives. Impossible to
destroy, because these sublime moments of clarity have existed since
the beginning of time.
Art is a way for us to seek what moves us. For me, it is things of
simplicity and authenticity. Stories that have an effect of dignity and
elevation. I seek subjects which are impossible to explain, I hold them
close to me, observe them and make art from the atmosphere that they
create. Seek what moves you. Between the one who creates a work of
art and the one who loves it, there is a shared nature and an intimate,
silent understanding. I think it is perhaps the highest form of living,
when we can reach it.
Technical Statement
I begin my collages with a poem, or piece of literature. I spend weeks of
time gathering photographs and images from old books that I feel evoke the
mood of the literature. I start by drawing one horizontal line across the entire
piece and one vertical line. This forms four quadrants which I will subdivide into
dozens of smaller quadrants, layering tissue papers and book pages, then
imagery and photographs. The aim is to create a work of art in the same
manner as I think about any story: by tiling images and words; things that I
have found and seen in the world atop things that I imagine. I am following an
architectural design in each piece, a geometrical exactness which gives an
organizing form to the work. I am literally trying to build an idea from the
building blocks of old book paper. I adhere these materials to the wooden
panel using clear acrylic paint. I then draw geometrical lines and circles and
shade them to produce the illusion of three dimensions. I re-incorporate the
original poem which inspired the work back into the piece using an acrylic
transfer technique. Finally, the work is covered in a polymer acrylic varnish
which protects the materials from UV light and preserves them from aging.
People often ask me why I use found imagery; that is paintings and
photographs that I find in books which were created by other artists. I want my
work to be like a conversation that you have in a daydream. Each of the
components have a life of their own, they speak in their own different voices.
Some elements will make sense to the viewer, some elements might be a
mystery. If I had taken all of the photographs myself, and painted all of the
paintings, they would all be speaking in my voice, they would have the same
style. There would be no conversation, but rather a monologue. There would be
no stream of consciousness between the viewer and the materials, there would
be only my intention, my view of the world. As a collage artist I think of myself
like the conductor of an orchestra of musicians and together we are trying to
play at something new and different.
No comments:
Post a Comment