Light-space

The works which comprise my thesis show are oil paintings and drawings done directly from life. The subjects of the works are either still life objects with plants, the human figure with plants and some objects without plant material. The paintings explore a number of the myriad possibilities of light and space offered by direct painting in a particular environment. The still life situations used for my work generally include objects on hand and a variety of plant material. Most of the plants selected are large with a varied leaf or stem structure. The backgrounds include some drapery, white paper and the walls and partitions of the studio area. While a number of objects may be used in any given painting, they are generally dispersed in open arrangements permitting free visual movement from one to the other, corresponding to my intention of treating them as elements of a spatial continuum rather than as distinct entities. The objects themselves are unimportant as subject matter. While exploring what light and space does to objects in a particular environment, I discovered that light can make objects as light or heavy as the negative light-space which surrounds them. A leaf need not appear to be floating if its space and light are such to give it the weight of the leaf's container. The light-space of the environment gives substance to the objects or figures within it. I have also found that light can intensify space, creating a greater or lesser tension or pull between the objects. I discovered that this same activity often carried the movement into the surrounding space

Visual sensations which create expressions

This thesis consists of six paintings and twelve serigraphs dealing with free flowing forms carrying associations of color through which I have attempted to organize purely intuitive responses to different experienced situations. The six paintings are executed on stretched cotton duck canvas with acrylic polymer colors. The twelve serigraphs are printed on Vellum Bristol Board with silk screen process inks. Both the paintings and serigraphs were developed from small drawing studies enlarged by the grid method or with an opaque projector. This series of works originated from an exploration of growth patterns from which I found a suitable vehicle in motifs similar to fingerprints to carry associations of color. The paintings and serigraphs are designed to be two dimensional in character. A sense of fluctuation in movement is generated by linear elements which vary in thickness, intensity, and or value. The work leading up to this thesis exhibition has evolved from an intensive study of color and spatial relationships. I have directed my efforts to achieve the visual effects obtained from using monochromatic or analogous colors. I apply colors at chosen intervals which produce a progressive comparison; thereby creating rhythm in my paintings. The serigraphs are basically an extension of the paintings which allows me to explore new motifs and spatial relationships on a smaller scale. They are also useful to me at this point because the technique of silk screen printing is an excellent method of reproducing the design with different associations of color for possible future paintings

Addressing the self through the subjectivity of the other: a practice-led investigation of a particular artist-model relationship

As an artist working with the female model, this practice-led research examines concepts of alterity and subjectivity while challenging the dominant role of male subjectivity in the western world. It revolves around the relationship between myself and the female subject, a specific woman who within the context of my work epitomises but at the same time transcends womanhood. This undertaking suggests that my representations of her body grow out of a dialectical tension between the feeling that the female other has almost become a metonymic extension of myself, and the awareness that such a feeling is at the same time illusory. The practical component of my investigations takes the form of body-themed box assemblages which are reminiscent of polyptychs, tabernacles and reliquaries. However, the sacred images which form part of these ecclesiastical items are replaced with others showing close-ups of the fragmented bodies of the model and myself. While this kind of profane artefact acts as a receptacle for our bodies which are broken down and enshrined together with other objects, it constitutes part of an ongoing process whereby the relationship between myself and the female figure is metamorphosed, re-shaped, and re-visioned. The significance of these creations is meant to extend beyond their artefactual existence and become mediums through which I re-visit female sexuality and eroticism and assess them within a spiritual context, albeit in the circumscribed framework of a particular woman. The artefact s ultimate objective is to appease my innate desire to access the other via a self-reflexive process which involves both mirroring and distancing at one and the same time. This process also includes an exploration into the spiritual with the aim of exploiting that which is other in the western theological tradition, namely God and the Divine. The gaze is also deeply involved in this exploration of the other. In fact, while our bodies are subjected to a re-visitation and trans-valuation in parts through multiplication and fragmentation, the gaze is in the process broken down into a series of glances which originate from myself, the viewer or the female subject. This process questions and disrupts the dominance of the male gaze, and its associated precepts, in Western visual culture. Finally, by correlating the model s body with the divine, my artefacts seek to give this woman, as an embodiment of the true other, a trans-corporeal identity. Rather than seeking to exert control over the other, they provide a pious space wherein the self and the other are able to encounter each other in a manner that initiates an equitable relationship, unhindered by presumptive knowledge. This is aided by the aesthetics and dynamics underlying the box assemblage which, while expressing gender fluidity and encouraging disengagement from preconceived dogmas a sort of reverse cognition also enhances the experience of its deific symbolism

The Gallery 2012

This is a digital copy of the print book produced by the Gallery 2012 team. Contents: Preface p. 3, Core p. 5, Graphic Design p. 23, Illustration p. 55, Painting p. 73, Photography p. 87, Printmaking p. 105, Metals & Jewelry p. 129, Sculpture & Ceramics p.147. Files for individual sections may be viewed on the detailed metadata page by clicking on the book title.https://rdw.rowan.edu/the_gallery/1004/thumbnail.jp

Untitled I, Untitled II

One phrase I’ve always lived by is “art for art’s sake.” There are no hidden meanings in my paintings nor are they meant to serve a purpose. They are purely meant to be visually appealing. Influenced by Japanese animation and manga and more recently, fashion illustration, my work features stylized, complex females in simplistic spaces. Ethereal and dreamlike, the organic females are often juxtaposed with geometric shapes because I like the stark contrast between the two. The whole image is first outlined in ink and then the figures are given form by slowly building the colors with washes. The background is then painted as opaquely as possible. My work is simplistic as is the method, but it is straightforward in the fact that I paint what intrigues me and I do so in my own style

Untitled I, Untitled II

One phrase I’ve always lived by is “art for art’s sake.” There are no hidden meanings in my paintings nor are they meant to serve a purpose. They are purely meant to be visually appealing. Influenced by Japanese animation and manga and more recently, fashion illustration, my work features stylized, complex females in simplistic spaces. Ethereal and dreamlike, the organic females are often juxtaposed with geometric shapes because I like the stark contrast between the two. The whole image is first outlined in ink and then the figures are given form by slowly building the colors with washes. The background is then painted as opaquely as possible. My work is simplistic as is the method, but it is straightforward in the fact that I paint what intrigues me and I do so in my own style