Unfurling The Layers

A look into my art practice and process

Origins

For the past year I’ve been heading in a direction with my art. I owe a big thank you to my friend Sylva for presenting me with the opportunity and challenge to make a large piece of work with color. They had seen this piece I made at the beginning of 2023 that was hanging up in Evan’s studio drying, while at the same time acting as sound dampening on his wall. (I’m happy to report it will find a permanent home in his studio as he will be making an acoustic treatment panel with it!) Sylva liked the open space in the piece and its scale and asked me if I could make them one similar in size, but with more colors. From there we came up with the idea of painting underneath the print. I had been painting on prints I made in 2022 and was starting to play around with flashe vinyl paint (sort of similar to gouache or matte acrylic).

This felt like a good opportunity to try something new, so I set to making an underpainting in the palette Sylva requested. Making something bright and bold like this was exciting. I splashed paint around on a large piece of muslin I had stretched to keep it raised off the ground. After about a week of painting layers and letting them dry, I came to a place where the painting felt complete, and the composition felt right. I un-stretched the piece and set to work on the next step.

The puzzle. Sifting through all of the photocopies I have amassed over the years I start to build a scene. I find textures that flow and shapes of toner and white spaces that match up. This can take days. Sometimes I need to step away to see the composition with fresh eyes. But eventually, it all comes together.

To print this large I tape the fabric up on the wall. I don’t use a press to print it. Instead, I use a brayer and my physical pressure to get the impressions. There is a lot that can go wrong in doing this, so it always feels like such an accomplishment to get these pieces from point A to B.

I was really happy with how this one turned out. A successful commission in my book :)

Bloedel

I dug deeper into this process and style over the rest of the year, making a lot of art during my Bloedel Reserve Community Creative Residency. You can see most of that work here. It was another great opportunity to explore this mode of creating. During walks through the beautiful landscapes of Bloedel I took hundreds of photographs. I focused on three sizes - 11 x 17” (the size of one photocopy), 22 x 17” (the size of two photocopies stacked), and 32 x 37” (the size of many photocopies). All had the same features of an expressive underpainting and the paper lithography prints. I fell into a rhythm with the process and tuned my puzzling and painting skills.

More Recent

From the first moment of inspiration when I take a photograph, to editing that photo in Photoshop, to painting and puzzling and to eventually printing, this process takes time, attention, and a skill I’ve been practicing over the last decade. I’m having a blast making this work, it is challenging, but in an exciting way. It feels expansive and open to possibilities. I’m grateful to have this kind of expression and the resources I need to create the work that I am. I’ve got some opportunities to show my work in 2024, so I have a creative fire under my ass to make more. Here are some recent pieces throughout the many steps. Thanks for following along!!

Fun fact - this piece “Proximity To Water” is going to be up in the Alcove at the Frye Art Museum from February ‘til June! I’ll share more about that when it’s up!!

On a different note - I am taking a break from Instagram to try to wrangle my addiction to it. So if I’m unusually silent on there, that’s why. My newsletter will be how I share what I’m working on, so thank you for following along!