Emergence

Detail

Detail

Detail

Detail

Detail

Furthering the Intermission series

As in all of my artwork, the process of creating this piece relied on a leap of faith. I didn't have a vision of its finished appearance but instead worked in stages of the unknown -- not knowing exactly where I was going while relying on my experience and skills and having faith in my abilities of creation.

Similar to many of my other recent paintings, prior to painting in acrylic and oil, I first formed the three-dimensional surface with clay. As the clay dried, it cracked naturally, creating an effect that resembles fossilized forms, a reminder of our own vulnerability in this world. 

This painting furthers my ongoing Abstract Intermission series: In the battles of life, there is loss, persistence, and deliverance. Some of these episodes, more dramatic than others, serve as pillars or beacons in our own timelines. Then there are the lulls or periods of recovery from and preparation for past and future battles -- the necessary intermissions in between that often feel nameless but impact us nevertheless, sometimes in more important ways than the memorable events of our pasts. Sometimes we meander along our amorphous, cracked, or abstract thoughts. Our plans for the future are never definite and our memories constantly change. Nothing lasts forever. Like Tyler Durden says in Fight Club: Even the Mona Lisa's falling apart. 

Fossil I (Intermission XII), 36" x 48", oil, acrylic, clay, epoxy resin, wood panel, 2016

3D Painting

Over the past few months the wave for creating stop-motion videos has once again grabbed me, and clay is typically an essential material in their creation. By exploring different concepts and experimenting with various ways of presenting them through visuals in the videos, it's shifted me to a different way of painting. I'm exploring new terrain in my paintings by creating a form of terrain on the flat surface.

A Visit, 35" x 24", 2016

By forming a three-dimensional surface, with both subtle and distinct shapes and texture, the piece blurs the lines between sculpture and painting. I like the effect of the properties of clay, such as its natural color, its cracked surface, and the way the paint adheres to it. As the clay dries, it cracks naturally, creating an effect that resembles decay, a reminder of our own vulnerability in this world. 

What's a bit disappointing though, is that in this day of social media and the ubiquity of the internet in everything we do, art benefits when the image of it transfers nicely to our computers, tablets, or phones. Here I go again . . . Maybe most painters/sculptors are somewhat disappointed with how their works transfer to a computer? But in this case, I think much is lost (more than usual) of the painting when seen only through the "lens" of your screen; when seen in person, the three-dimensional nature of the painting changes its look based on the lighting or the angle of the viewer as a result of varying highlights, shadows, and the nature of some of the pearlescent paints used here. 

Detail A Visit

This painting references Pablo Picasso's famous blue period, particularly, one of my favorite pieces at LACMA: Portrait of Sebastia Juñer Vidal (1903). 

Detail: A Visit