Just got back from a second trip to Ohiopyle, PA with my dear friend, Conrad. I watched the leaves turn and enjoyed the beautiful weather hiking along the mountain and river trails. We also documented some new collaboration work. Stay tuned for photos.

Experiments with the body and object

Statement

Presently, I am working on paintings as an approach to garments.  I use geometric fabric cutouts then slash and open negative spaces that resemble arm holes, neck openings, and seams.  The forms suggest the absence of the body while the material interaction of paint seeping into and staining the cloth suggests its visceral presence.  The body leaves an imprint on cloth.  It imbues it with stains and scent.  It also deteriorates the composition by friction and repetitive motion.  These marks are evidence of experience--memories.  When the body is gone, its presence is still tangible.  The paintings become objects once they are hung from the wall and sag, lean, and drag like a figure in repose.  Existing without the body, they lure the viewer to complete them through their own transference.  I imagine these works to be “collections”--gestural illustrations of clothing, embodying the sensibility and proportions of garments.  I imagine the forms swathing the body, draping and folding onto them selves.  What would they look like in motion as the weight of gravity pulls it off the body, or if it were to billow like a sail?  The parts then serve as pattern pieces towards the realization of actual garments.

BODY, OBJECT, GARMENT

FOUND PAINTING