A piece of my work...

Over the past year I have been very interested in building upon fragments. I paint draw, crochet and sew. Drawing acts as a base that helps evolve the structure of the imagery. Adding black and colored line work allows the structure of my drawings to build and become a visual diagram for the eyes. When paint is included the piece breathes it’s own story for the viewer. This piece, named “Shrapnel”, is a portrait based upon a headshot of my father during his time in the army in the mid seventies. When beginning to create the piece, I began sketching from an older photograph. The process of manipulating the planes of the face through color with the tonal planes from the photograph created an array of dismembered, sharp edged fragments. Sharp edges, missing pieces, and an unclear placement of what lies in front of another created an interesting way of developing a portrait. The outlining of shapes was created with multi-colored markers and the shading was completed with Prismacolor.

Through my art practice, I am able to share with the viewer information about myself, where, each piece of artwork is, in essence, a story from my life with the narrative quality of the tale expressed somewhat ambiguously. For instance, in this piece, I am able to talk about my father and somewhat reflect his personality. Through the brightness of the colors, warmth and energy is generated, however, the brokenness of the half portrait renders an eeriness and morbidity. The direction the stream of shapes travels, from the top of the composition to the bottom, creates an aid for the viewer’s eyes. In this sense the viewer is able to create their own translation of why it is so bright, why only the jaw and neck are included and what the streams symbolize.

To explain the reasoning for these qualities, I need to explain my process. Many times I have an idea of what I would like to create and usually the outcome is exceedingly different from the original idea. However, as the piece grows into whatever it might become my thought process alters with it and so the possibilities of the project extends. At the time of creating this specific piece I wanted to capture some of the structures of the muscles in the face, while also abstracting something extremely representational. Another aspect of this evolution is the stories I develop while working. I find that nostalgia works best when creating works of individuals whom are familiar to ones self. So I remember moments and things about the person, or try to remember every single detail about their physicality in order to reinterpret it as true as possible. My father is a blue-collared worker who had to make a living with his hands. After welding for almost a decade, working in shipping and receiving for another twenty years his hands have become wrinkled, cracked and scale-like. Therefore, while creating this piece I wanted to develop something true to his body as well. Stories and tangents become my best friend while working.