Tunguska Pen and Ink Drawings 1 and 2

Here are 2 10″x12″ pen drawings that I did back in February but didn’t get around to photographing until now. I made them using a blue ball point pen and a compass. Luckily I had a compass with a long extension for it so that I could get at least 12 inches out from the center. These remind me a little of the I was a Landscape in your Dream series that I did that also used a blue ball point pen. I decided to only make 2 and the idea seems like a throw away idea; sometimes I get an idea and I just have to do it to get past it and that’s what this feels like.

The title comes from the Tunguska event which was a large explosion that happened in Russia in 1908. It flattened 770 square miles of trees.

A Theory of Progress Small Scale Sculpture

Here is a photograph of the last A Theory of Progress sculpture. It was made so that it could be presented in 3 different positions.

The Pleasure of Deceit Small Scale Sculptures

I finished the last sculpture in the Pleasure of Deceit series and then photographed all of them. I built this one last because it was the hardest to build since it had so many angles to cut and I was worried that it couldn’t be done. In order to make it more stable I put an extra piece on the back which can be seen in the second photograph. I also decided to paint this one with the same green gouache that I had used for the painting because I was a little tired of the gray paint combinations I had used for the other sculptures and wanted something different; this unfortunately creates a problem in presenting them as a series because one will be obviously different but I decided that I didn’t care in the end.

Here are all 4 sculptures photographed front and back to show both how they are viewed optimally and their construction. The front photograph of each of all of the sculptures have also been manipulated to create straighter vertical lines.

The Visible and Invisible Small Scale Sculpture

I finished the small scale sculpture The Visible and Invisible which was based on a gouache painting that I did earlier this year that deals with optical illusions. Like Valis and Tone Float before it, I painted the sides different shades of gray from Golden #5 to Golden #2. I used Golden #6 on the outer edges, thinking that if I ever exhibit the series I could put them on a surface painted with the same shade of grey thus making the edges invisible. The photo that I took shows the piece on my dining room table and it’s easy to see how horribly I painted it. I find that I’ve become less interested in pristine surfaces and was looking for something that was different from the series A Theory of Forms and Ideas in which the sculptures have a smooth finish to them. In the final photo the surface will most likely look less textured because the diffused light will eliminate the surfaces uneven shadows.

Last but not least is The Pleasure of Deceit.

A Theory of Progress Small Scale Sculpture

Here is another small scale sculpture that I finished a couple of weeks ago from the A Theory of Progress series that explores pure design and the homogeneous surface. The sculpture is meant to swivel in the center, allowing for the sculpture to be displayed in 2 different ways. I made it this way because I couldn’t decide which design I liked better so I thought it would be more interesting to incorporate both into the final piece. The actual sculpture would probably be made using 1″x4″‘s but, like most of my models, it will most likely never be made. 

All Memories are Traces of Tears Installation Project

For the past 6 months of been part of an art management company that leases out artwork to clients of various kinds. Below is an installation shot of All Memories are Traces of Tears installed in a fancy loft that someone was trying to sell. I had previously only exhibited this piece once at St. Cecilia’s in Brooklyn where I built a pedestal for it and showed it lying flat. I thought that laying it flat on a pedestal made it sculptural and, being that it was shown in an abandoned nunnery, made it seem like a religious object ready for contemplation. I don’t mind it being shown on the wall and even had it hanging in my studio, but without the ability to see it in the right perspective I find that it looses most of it’s excitement. I think that this is the problem with most art objects; once they are pulled out of their intended contexts they lose most of their original meaning, becoming aesthetic shells that serve someone else’s purpose. That being said, I certainly welcome most opportunities to show my work but find that more and more I have no control over any meaning for my work and am instead left with settling for whatever I can get.

Tone Float and Valis Small Scale Sculptures

Here are 2 small scale sculptures that I finished a couple of weeks ago. The top one is a sculptural version of Tone Float and the bottom one is a sculptural version of Valis. Both were made using the negative perspective of the image as a point of reference. I was going to spray paint them all black like Opposition and Sister Squares are Reconciled and A Theory of Forms and Ideas but decided that the negative space and the reflection of light on the surface created a bland difference between plains and also visually distorted the inner corners, making them lighter. This was the same problem that I had with Opposition and Sister Squares are Reconciled but I was originally hoping to end up with distinctly different shading on the sides of the final image like A Theory of Forms and Ideas. The difference is in how light reflects off of the surfaces and I have a feeling that the light becomes trapped in the negative space, creating dark corners while at the same time reflecting off of the plain that makes up the corner, creating a lighter plain that then makes the space around it look even darker. To combat this I decided to paint the surfaces different shades of gray, making what I thought would be the side with the most light the lightest shade and the side most likely to be in the shadow the darkest gray. I experimented with doing this the opposite way but didn’t like the way it looked. Another problem was the sides of the 1/8″ basswood which I decided to paint a similar shade as the gray paper that I use to photograph on, hoping that the sides would somewhat fade into the background. The edges were painted with Golden #6 and the sculptures were painted with #5, #4, #3.5 and #2 and then coated with Golden UVLS Matte spray varnish.

I still need to make The Pleasure of Deceit and The Visible and Invisible into small scale sculptures as well but haven’t had the time.

The Visible and Invisible, Valis and Tone Float Paintings

I finished The Visible and Invisible this week. This one took me about 3 weeks since I don’t really have long stretches of time anymore to work on art so I had to do it a bit at a time. I also photographed Valis and Tone Float.  I don’t think that I’m going to make a smaller version of The Pleasure of Deceit.

Useless Machine II

I finally finished Useless Machine ll which uses 3 rings instead of Useless Machine which only uses one. It took a while to finish because I was having problems gluing the middle ring together. I originally had used a larger ring that I cut a section out of but it kept springing apart after gluing and clamping so I decided to use a smaller ring that I then added a section to; this was an easier method but created a slight flat spot. The rings also spent a lot of time in the bathroom with clamps on them so that the steam from the shower would shape them properly.

A Theory of Forms and Ideas #18 Painting

Here is a painting that I’ve been working on for the past couple of weeks based on the Theory of Forms and Ideas Gouache Painting #18. Late last year I was asked to be part of an art organization that sells, commissions and rents out art work. There has been particular interest in the gouache paintings and was asked if I would consider making them bigger which I hesitatingly agreed to. I generally do not like to pollute the creative process with other peoples ideas but I find it necessary to explore other ways of making money besides handling art for museums. The original gouaches have a quality that is particular to both their size and the paper that they are made on and the thought of enlarging them ruins what was so nice about them. I decided to take the bull by the horns and make an example that employs the same techniques that I used to make Burning From the Inside and From Safety To Where…?.

I started by using one of the canvases that I had prepared for the last series that I had been working on that included Valis and Tone Float. I sketched the original plan onto the canvas and then painted the black areas using acrylic latex as a base color. Then I painted over the black acrylic latex with black non-acryla gouache and used FLP acrylic latex white for the back ground. I painted both the black and the white areas 3 times and also blended the edges to create a blurry and unfocused grey transitional space between the black and white areas.

I have to say I’m not super happy with the results and I don’t think that I’ll make any more until I hear something further about a commission.