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Statement and Intent
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Collaboration (Arrow), 2013
Another series of (almost) conventional painting, which I refer to as “Collaborations” involve the retrieval of flattened work gloves – a surprisingly common item found in the streets – and integrating them into sign compositions. In each case, my collaborator is anonymous, or, from another angle, im collaborating with the Road itself. The resulting paintings are signs that beckon and guide viewers with ersatz hand-gestures, in the direction of a more layered interpretation of the process, imagery and materials.
Meanwhile, my most recent works, the Octagons, are related to signage perhaps only with respect to their shape. For me it is just enough. It’s a departure point (just like every good stop-sign), toward the infinite possibilities of abstraction that challenge me to settle upon one set of terms and choices to the exclusion of all else. Indeed, I keep returning to abstraction probably because the illusion of “anything goes” is confounded, (paradoxically?) by the fact that almost nothing actually seems to work! And if, as Cézanne suggested, a painting is never finished, only abandoned, I hope to have arrived at the state of abandon with a degree of accomplishment, at least once in a while…
