Art
Facts: Artist's Statement
Design
& Organization:
All
of my work begins with a square. Often the next step I take in conceptualizing
an idea for my work is to develop a composition utilizing a design
structure loosely based on Fibonacci's mathematical sequence (0,1,2,3,5,8,13,21...):
Within a format derived from a square unit used 3 times by 5 times,
I produce shapes and organize my composition. My attraction to this
system can be attributed to my fascination as a child to the family
quilts -- the juxtaposing, twisting, mirroring, and reversing of
shapes.
Content:
On
top of this formal design, I construct images triggered by personal
and universal perspectives.
Like
a scrapbook, the memories of our past experiences are a collection
of vignettes, punctuation marks that give our lives direction, meaning,
and substance.
Shelter
Series: Often I choose images and objects with which viewers
already have comfortable relationships. The arch suggests shelter.
Where do we each find shelter? What protects us? What do we define
as our safe havens? Wherever we find shelter, it is to this place
that we bring those things that are precious to us: bundles of
memories, friendships, family, and feelings.
Alphabet
Series: Based on research into the Proto-Sinaic (pre-Hebrew
Western) alphabet, I pair collaged and drawn images with alphabetic
letters, both proto-representational and contemporary. Letters
have numerical equivalents and well as multiple meanings which
add to the paired imagery's suggested connotations.
The
three-dimensional found objects are "activators." They
are visual vehicles inviting the viewer to make a more physical
connection to the imagery.The addition of common hardware contributes
to the idea of strength and structure on which our lives are built.
It is there to remind the viewer that we are not passive observers
of life, that we must take part in the present.
By combining images and objects, by combining mediative and active
surfaces, I invite the viewer to construct and reflect.
Media
and Technique:
Most
frequently I work with mixed media on paper and panel, which provides
the base for a substructure of applied surfaces. On top of these
textured grounds, I use water-soluble pencils, crayons, and graphite.
Often as many as 25 or 30 layers are needed to achieve the visual
depth required. In combination with the strata of marks and wipes,
I incorporate papers, fabrics, metals, and three-dimensional objects.
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