July 1, 2015 - Entropy

“The future is the obsolete but in reverse.” – Vladimir Nabokov

Although in his essay, Entropy and the New Monuments, Robert Smithson discusses artists that previously felt I did not have much in common with such as Donald Judd, Sol Lewitt and Robert Morris, I’ve uncovered elements that I believe are important to my work. Specifically, the ideas of making monuments built against the ages rather than for them, where time precedes space as a conceptual concern, and exhibit a desire for the creation of surface structures.

I see my installations as a kind of monument, not to what has been or will be, but rather to an idealized version of a place I would like to exist. They simultaneously reference symbolism and schemas of the past and present while also depicting something disorienting and unfamiliar, much like the way I imagine a glimpse of the future would look to someone of the past.

I would like for my sand work to begin to emphasize the passage of time in juxtaposition to its ephemeral nature. I started the first in a series of experiments exploring different ways I can achieve this through documenting the destruction of sand paintings.

June 30, 2015

I was eager to get back home to begin some resolving issues brought up during my critiques and working out some new ideas. I made of list of multiple routes to explore in an attempt to push my work forward and will map these out in an upcoming post. A few of those issues I wanted to start addressing as soon as possible. 

• create a sand painting that could be interpreted in several ways
• document the work through a series of descriptive detail shots
• use a square format and shallow depth of field for my photographs

Up until now, I have created Sandscapes by devising a pattern based on the shapes and colors of the land forms in a particular landscape. I wanted to see what would happen if I attempted to draw comparisons by combining elements from different sources. Circular, aerial patterns made by farm irrigation, crop circles, islands, and flower blossoms were all elements that I aimed to reference.

Methods of documentation came up a lot in my crits. One of my main concerns was that the photographs were reading strictly as documentation and not able to stand alone as images. It became clear that if I want the photographs to truly be a window for the viewer into another world, I will have to work on the way space is interpreted. Photographing a series of descriptive detail shots from different points of view, using selective focus and cropping to simulate limitless space will be my first steps to achieve this. I have also decided that using square format for my photography will connect it to my painting practice. The idea that the shape itself served as an ancient symbol for the earth (Symbols and Their Meanings, Jack Tresidder) is also interesting to me.

One

This is the work and artist statement I brought to the first residency. The majority of the work was made in 2014, although a couple of the paintings were made the year before and one was completed this year. They represent three bodies of work: Mineral Pop, Below, and Sandscapes. The Mineral Pop series fuses geological surface micro-landscapes with their imagined iconography, while the Sandscapes and Below series reinterpret aerial and ground view landscapes as patterns of color and movement. 

 Artist Statement

I create work that combines qualities of natural and artificial worlds using primarily sand and acrylic as my media. My sculptures and paintings reflect an admiration of nature and humanity’s attempt to balance its role as steward of the environment with an innate desire to objectify and control it. My creative process mirrors this relationship by constructing space, both real and imagined, through the act of pouring and sculpting media. My work is unified by the thematic exploration of landscape, process, biomorphic shapes, and use of color and texture. Process is emphasized by manipulating media. In addition to the gesture of pouring mounds of sand or sculpting paint, my work requires intense preparation procedures like dyeing sand or mixing various blends with paint medium. Using colors that can be found in nature, but in vibrant hues, I reference the use of bright, isolated colors in popular culture and advertising. Texture engages the senses, indicative of a tangible connection to the work and its content. I use biomorphic shapes and forms to give life to inanimate objects implicating a connection between nature and the life it supports.

I choose natural materials for my three dimensional work. I utilize sand and rice as metaphors for the earth and humanity’s connection to it. In the context of my work, these materials also symbolize the instinctive desire to manipulate nature. My sculptural body of work borrows from a non-Western spiritual practice, creating artwork that incorporates design and performance: traditionally sand painting rituals are performed to bless and purify those present. My pieces break away from the confines of sacred geometry and imagery to additionally serve as a metaphor for human manipulation of nature by emphasizing repetitive gesture, pattern, and process.

 

 

I have been experimenting ways of photographing my sand practice so that its documentation serves also as an extension of the work. I brought a collection of these images in addition to creating a small table top sand painting in my crit space.

Installation view of crit space

Installation view of crit space

Detail of Pennsylvania Hills