Saturday, September 17, 2016

Love Bomb chosen for group show in Mallorca























The experimental mirror piece I created this past year was recently selected as a finalist in a renowned competition at the Galería Can Gelabert here in Binissalem Mallorca. I am pleased to have been included among a group of diverse local artists.
The exhibit remains open through 16th October 2016, click here for details.

 



Monday, June 6, 2016

Wrecking Ball (near miss)


The Wrecking Ball (near miss)   2016
Ink, pencil, rice paper and gesso on wood panel (45x80cm)





 

Sunday, May 8, 2016

New Drawing: Trophy

New Drawing: Trophy  



Pencil, gesso, red pen and glitter on found paper. 2016

Sunday, May 1, 2016

Dissonance Collages

Dissonance Collages

These figure studies are for a lamp shade prototype.




Sunday, April 10, 2016

Leap Frog


Leap Frog
2016
pencil, ink and gesso on a bentonite clay-treated wood.

Friday, April 1, 2016

Mirror work in progress: Love Bomb


Love Bomb is almost complete!
I was very excited back in autumn when I found this unique frame at a second hand market.














 
After much trial and error I removed the backing paint and some of the reflective surface from behind; then added my own finish, as you can see here...










Then I etched the rain of women across the front, using various masking layers.

 



The final stage is to decide if the original baubles will be added and to hang it. 

This step is crucial as the lighting and the viewer's orientation to the piece changes the effect dramatically.

I've gilded the original tassel trim that came wrapped around the mirror.
Here is a preliminary sketch for the rain of women.




'Love bombing' often takes place at the outset of  whirlwind romances and is usually directed by sociopaths or narcissists.

 Targets are idealized and literally bombarded non-stop with attention that seems like love and can cause high levels of infatuation. The target is 'swept off their feet' and is unaware that it actually is a manipulative means to gain attention.
(source)










Sunday, March 13, 2016

Bodies of work




Following on the déjà vu mentioned in the Paper Dolls post,  I came across a dream journal entry from January 2005 which was used in my Immersion painting series.


Here are a few of the little paintings made to illustrate the dream. 
 






















 ...and an excerpt from the entry:


 'In my dream last night I spontaneously jumped into the deep water, the sun was out and I felt excited. Suddenly, the sky darkened with clouds and I was quickly consumed by roaring waves.  I was lost at sea. I screamed for him to help me, but my voice was only a whisper amidst the roar of the sky and waves.  I feel helpless and need salvation…'

 '...What’s so romantic about loneliness and melancholy? Slip Sliding Away plays in the background as my baby cries in her crib. I haven’t left the house since Thursday. 
The isolation is taking over, surrounding me like the Mediterranean. Not the turquoise one in postcards, but the deep, swallowing one of my dream.' 
 
While sorting through my files, I also stumbled upon these two packets of bodies:
 
















On the left is a pile of doll limbs I painstakingly created but never made use of in 1994.

On the right is a stack of yoga postures created for the work I was making around 2000.

Old dog, new tricks. Back to the drawing board...

Sunday, March 6, 2016

Out of Body Experience Drawings....continued

Following on the previous post, I share a few more compositions:








Left: Study for Fright or Flight 



(These drawings are light and not easy to photograph, thanks for clicking on the image to get a better look.)

Left: Study for The Carrier

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Out of Body Experience Drawings

Out of body experience drawings.

These composition studies explore the twin concept of depersonalization and derealization, a syndrome resulting from the anxiety of trauma where one is detached from their own body, and feel they move through experience in a dream-like state.
Sketch for... Lean on me

 (These drawings are light and not easy to photograph, thanks for clicking on the image to get a better look.) 






Eve Ensler (creator of the Vagina Monologues) has an excellent podcast on the topic, which I found on Maria Popova's Brainpickings.




Sketch for... Along for the ride




 













Sunday, February 7, 2016

Paper dolls

Up to my old tricks again...

As I explore compositions in the studio, I realize how easily I gravitate toward collage. The versatile interplay of shapes and textures is a good match for my mood on many days. I love taking disparate or cast-off things and making them into something new.

But, I've also realized lately that I continue to return to making my own paper dolls. I can find many references from older work where I have carefully drawn, cut-out and characterized figures in simple scenes.

Yet, when I embark on a new series, I don't think, 'I'd like to do silhouetted shapes again, like I did back then'. It starts to happen intuitively and ... then I think,  'Oh - I did it again'.

My recent return to cut-out figures is, I suppose, partially about control and the strong impulse to play the mastermind behind this theatre of forms.

 Left: 
Emerse or Drown, Gold leaf and acrylic on wood.
2006, Mallorca Spain.

Right: 
Chain Reaction
Detail of unique artist book. papers, gesso. 
1994, Massachusetts USA
Left: 
Curtains
Gallery installation, wood, ink on silk. 
1995, Thesis show at Mass College of Art, Boston, USA

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Los Bichos: Macropsia Insectum




Macropsia Insectum 

Ink, guache and collage on paper, 2016


This specimen was designed to mimic the sensation of derealization common during and after traumatic experience.  Read more about depersonalization and derealization here.

Sunday, January 10, 2016

In Process: High Wired


I've got a lot of irons in the fire at the moment. Here's yet another work in progress.                   
The working title is High Wired...or maybe No Net. Not sure yet.