Statement

Here's a look at the first statement for my exploration into disrupting the structure of looking.

This statement is largely about the trouble in locating the picture plane on a translucent surface, enhanced by a weave/pattern of positive/negative marks. The fixation of where the plane is located shifts continuously to the surface of the coloured cellophane to the back wall, which you can see through the negative spaces in the pattern weave. I wanted these works to reference painting more than drawings so I thought it might be a good time to use colour as a spatial device, not so much as expressive colour, but atmospheric colour. I wanted the hues/tones of the marks in each statement to illicit difference levels of optic buzzing, just to see what would happen at lower intensities. Because there are a lot of optic elements at play here, I was worried that this work could be too easily lumped in with that of Op Art. To deny this association, I wanted to stress the hand-made quality and inevitable failure by creating such a pattern by hand. Making the work by hand references the gesture as per the abstract expressionists, but because I'm taking the heroism out of the marks, it speaks to the diaristic aspect of making that is different than the ab exers. I think it might be more in tune with post-minimalism, think Chuck Close. So that's an association that I'm more comfortable with :)
One last point was that I chose to show these works in the concourse of the VA Building to see how they would act in a transition/thoroughfare type of space. Would these works stop people in their tracks? Judging from my personal observations (aka spying) I would say about half of the people who walked by would stop and interact with the work, a few minutes each, but those minutes count as gold. It takes a minute for the disorientation/reorientation to have that embodied experience that I'm seeking to offer the viewer who is open to it. I received a lot of positive feedback from my profs, peers, profs from other classes, and building support workers. I love making these works because I can harness the obsessive weirdo in me so I think I'm off on the right track.