Shelter-in-Place drastically shifted obligations, habits, patterns and orbits of influence bringing new meaning to the inherent loneliness of place. This overwhelming paradigm shift redefined distances and intentions. To adjust and respond, I needed to find a way to continue to practice without a more formal body of work in mind. The habitual circulation of judgements around the formal identity of an artist needed to be wiped clean then forgotten.
Meeting “the urge without any other qualifying pressures” - Phyllida Barlow
I began with a page in a 9x12 sketchbook. Nothing fancy but favoring the Strathmore Toned Tan or Grey. A sketchbook practice became a perfect way for me to simply engage, to fool around with favorite tools and to mess up with different colors and angry inconsolable lines. Sketchbook as a container for doing something yet nothing became an important container for an urgent presence to tend to whatever was at hand. A month or part of a year passed and I needed to order several more and was pleasantly surprised when a much larger 18x24 sketch pad was mistakenly delivered. It was perhaps fate with a challenge to go larger, to take up space and frequently more time.
As time passed and the Pandemic lingered I continued to stretch the notion of what a sketchbook practice could encompass. Text written in the margins anchors the date and holds a phrase. Let me flip through some pages and read to you from the margins.
sketchbook as fiber: I returned to making my own brushes and experimental mark making. This led me to more tactile painted and pigmented fabric with slow meditative surface embroidery and applique. Pages of paper and pages of fiber became assembled as books without words. These tactile and un-imposing structures were a perfect format for slow processing.
sketchbook as monotype: I returned to studio and workshop spaces that gave me access to an etching press and over time developed what I began to recognize was yet another sketchbook practice. Pages, sketches of marks, gestures and objects, variations and iterations of an imprint - A day's work within the more formal architecture of making and creating images.
Results from a day at the press
collected and curated objects: plastic bags including zip lock bags
reflection / purpose: confronting use of plastic is for me an ongoing oppressive battle. I’ve collected the bags that held produce, bread, bulk items like dried fruit, grains and assorted snacks. I’ve collected them and have made a special trip to the ‘right place’ to recycle them only to have the next grocery run begin the cycle again.
process: Monotypes from a day's work reveal the hidden language and conspicuous impact held by the materials we use to do the job of helping us carry. The palette is limited to two colors then mixed and rolled onto two separate mylar plates. Objects are arranged and then sandwiched between the inked surfaces before moving through the etching press. This first pass of translation generates ephemeral components ready to be rearranged and imprinted while being sandwiched between two papers. The resulting dyad is a mirror, an invitation for reflection and a visual contemplation of the ordinary.
Viewing this work I wonder what your translation is. I am curious to learn how you are battling the pervasiveness of plastic in our individual lives and how our personal decisions about use and reuse impact the environment we all share.