Artist Statement
The current body of work, begun in late 2005, is comprised of mixed media pieces that begin as drawings, which are scanned, printed onto transparent acetate and collaged into grids of twelve to eighteen 8½" x 11" blocks of shifting line and color. The original drawings are made on paper or clear acetate, using permanent marker, oil stick, acrylic paint and other media. Usually the backgrounds of the line drawings are altered by painting the reverse side of a drawing after it has been copied onto acetate.
While the original 8½" x 11" transparency can seem simple, when reproduced and collaged together to form the larger image, the result becomes formidable and impressive. The transparencies resemble animation cells, the individual drawings on clear plastic used to create cartoons. And they act like biological cells, each containing the essential DNA of the larger drawing.
The drawings are created freely and unconsciously for the most part, following an intuitive flow to form marks and patterns that relate back to impressions of everyday experiences. These can involve the artist’s experiences of the sounds and sights of nature, and the persistence of memory. Much of the work involves “controlled accident”, and the process allows an accelerated approach that captures a sense of personal, inner flux. The collaging together of the individual elements is both deliberate and calculated. Some of the work moves quickly from idea to completion, while some of it requires days or weeks of manipulation, and series of additions and reductions.
Perceptually, the work challenges the viewer with an overall look that is a cross between a reproduction, a drawing and a painting. Many of the titles of the pieces come from the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, and in spirit this work is poetic, open to the viewer’s own interpretation.
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