Spacey

 

This work from late summer into early fall 2013, shifts between the painterly poles of establishing pictorial space versus the "paint- as- paint" grit of the actual surface.



 

The silhouetted forms at once both assign and deny a certain spatial depth.
 

  

   

Now, late-fall,  a "surround" or framing

device  has developed that establishes another level to the fore-mid-background distances. It's a sort of fore-foreground.

 

 

 And most recently, not only is the cropping/editing coming from

the framing device, but is apparent in the imagery itself--how much (or how little) information is needed?

 

 

 (And I guess the idea of working with silhouetted forms is yet another form of editing/decision -making.)

What It Is And What It Isn't

Describing Geometry

I recently had a studio visit from two painters, each of whose work I really respect. A comment during the visit has stayed with me. It was about how the radiating marks in my newest paintings,"describe the dimensions of the panel."

I've been aware of this as a recurring tendency for a while, but it is helpful to hear someone else find a way to articulate it.

.

I later thought that this sort of modular formation (pictured above) begins to describe the dimensions and geometry of the space.

Apflebaum, floor piece (at top), Morris, felt piece (at bottom).

Above is a shot of my studio wall  where two images of work by artists I admire that have hung longer than any other of the handful I have up. For a long time I couldn't make a connection between these works and mine.  But now that I see the theme of describing dimensions, or geometry, as central to the work itself (and importantly, how it dictates outcome) I am beginning to see a link.

detail, Polly Apfelbaum, floor piece

detail, Robert Morris, felt piece.