Stuffed Blue Heart (detail)
Ink and twine on paper mounted on board
In process
I had been working on this piece for several days, trying to combine the ink work with the twine work. I worked out a lot of issues in this one, and I am able to really begin to focus on the issues that really matter to me: making art that is about a/the material body and the mental/emotional space that partners with physical embodied experience.
Stuffed Blue Heart (detail)
Ink and twine on paper mounted on board
In process
I began to add more and more design elements to this piece, which I think looks good, but was actually taking away from the simplicity of what I’m trying to convey. I love decoration (see my graphic design work), so it has been hard to let go of wanting to decorate everything with color and little graphic elements.
Stuffed Blue Heart (detail)
Ink and twine + gouache on paper mounted on board
In process
Gary Simmons, workshop leader, suggested that I was using the painting surface as a crutch, because it’s something I’m comfortable with. Perhaps that’s true. He asked me if I really should be doing sculpture at this point, to which I responded ‘probably, yes, but that makes me uncomfortable.’ . . . So, here I go, abandoning the painting surface and moving my work directly onto the wall (look for that work tomorrow, it’s not finished yet!).
Stuffed Blue Heart
Ink and twine on paper mounted on board
In process
When this piece is finished, knotted twine will billow and spill out from all the holes in the center of the painting, creating a three-dimensional effect. You can see that the piece is really about the action in the center, and I need to get rid of the background completely.
