artist statement 4/23/14

I am interested in creating and collecting evidence of presence. Using traditional etching techniques and primarily silk fabric, which picks up high levels of detail during the printing process, I create layered prints, impressions of fabric textures and folds. The fabric is reminiscent of tangled clothes and bedsheets, evidence of human presence. The fabric might block out some areas of ink in one print, while another print carries information about the exact folds and frayed edges of the same fabric where more ink was left from the previous impression.

I collect as much information as possible during the whole process of printmaking, amassing printed material that is used to construct an environment full of marks–evidence of my presence. The fabric, traditional printmaking paper and newsprint are all kept and reassembled to create a new  environment that invites investigation and careful observation. Layers of color are established by printing on the same area, with the same plate, but varying traditional CMYK colors, exploring the consequences of their interaction. The overlap between different layers creates complex colorscapes. Like different lines of distance in a landscape, the colors create a sense of depth and dimension.

observing the piles of sticks after the big ice storm brought down big ones. B&W does a good job of abstracting the mass.

My current work is an exploration of a dynamic narrative. It is an abstract narrative; the whole story is never revealed. Rather, I am working to capture a moment, an instance, one possibility in the infinitude of tales. I am working to create worlds for viewers to access and experience on multiple levels.

I am building paper constructions, model ships or scientific abstractions of molecular structures, depending on which macro- or micro-cosmic context is created. The surfaces of these models are layered in triangulated patterns, reminiscent of construction sites and other conceptual environments where connections are interrelated and reinforced. These models float through space, barely attached to the wall. The wall becomes an abstraction of a page in a book; I am bringing images out of the confines of a flat sheet of paper and into the viewer’s space.

I am also using yarn, delineating space, animating corners and blocking off other areas where physical access was previously taken for granted. The model ships and the string compositions are sets for future scenes, quiet relics left over from a fantastic play, ready to be rearranged into new configurations at the director’s will. With paper and string, I am enacting the characters I invented in previous print form, creating props for their performances. Spooling, spinning, spelling the webs, I define a particular moment, conjuring a setting of interconnectivity. This moment is ready to include the viewer, looming to swallow up and engulf them within the semi-visible network. The meticulous repetition of motion creates something which has a life of its own, growing spontaneously, steadily and pervasively.

Spores, prints and nets