A recent discussion with a curator for an upcoming show has left me reflecting on some drawings that I haven't thought about in a long time. It is such a treat to have an outside voice plant a seed in your brain which then makes you see your own work in a new way.
The upcoming exhibition (details soon once things are more finalized) has me thinking of transformations. The curator was interested in some drawings from 2007 from a series called "World Machines." The larger drawings use notational and gestural marks collaged together to form teeming masses—mechanisms that make me think of the movie
Brazil—that teeter between a state of potential rebirth or decay. The smaller works are a bit looser/lyrical with ink washes in addition to the collaged marks.
Reflecting back is of course making me think about my current work in new ways. I'm working primarily on unstretched canvases and planting suggestions of structure within them by adding chunks of wood stretched within the fields (see
Sattha's Mmmm... as an example). I hadn't thought about this work in terms of transitions before but now I see that the idea is very relevant. I have always liked my work to feel like it's caught in the process of becoming; not yet fully matured and retaining a sense of potential energy. This often makes for a fairly awkward object... and I like that too. It's as if I'm creating adolescent artworks—all knees & elbows—makes for some fun angles!
Some images from the World Machines series, all from 2007:
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| World Machine #1, 18x24 |
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| World Machine #2, 18x24" |
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| World Machine #3, 18x24" |
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| World Machine #5, 18x24" |
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| World Machine #7, 18x24" |
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| World Machine #8, 18x24" |
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| World Machine #9, 18x24" |
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| World Machine #10, 18x24" |
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| World Machine #11, 18x24" |
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| World Machine #12, 18x24" |
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| Machine Garden, 40x42" |
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| Machinescape, 58x42" |
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| Sky Net Machine, 54x42" |
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| Convergence Machine, 42x41" |
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| Formulation Machine, 50x42 |
