Now that “Jewels: Blue-Green Girl, Boat” is finished, Jewels is complete. There are twelve diptychs in this collection, one for each major stop on the color wheel. As a visitor to the studio said, “It’s rainbow!” Each panel in a two-panel set has a small and concentrated instance of the subject color, and for a final touch I hand paint gloss medium on this color to add punch. These are wee pieces, each panel is 4 inches square and about 1.5 inches deep, with the sides painted in a shade of the featured hue. Each image rhymes with its partner, and not just because of the color. I like to play with categories here, as elsewhere, especially “natural” and “human-made.” In “Blue-Green,” “Girl” is sitting in a tree, and “Boat” is on water; which is more natural? I am also thinking about places: “Girl” is in Baltimore and “Boat” is in Venice, both places in various kinds of crisis. As another visitor said the other day, “Interesting. You look at them and they’re completely different, but they’re not!”
Jewels, all 12 arranged so that each pair vertically aligns with its complement.
I have my Mimesis book and a couple large prints from it showing now in the PHOTOBOOK exhibition at Vivid Solutions Gallery. This show is up until December 19, 2014. Also, for only two days, I will be showing some new work and some classics at FotoBazaar as part of FotoWeekDC. On November 15 and 16 from 10:00am–6:00pm my work (and many others’ work!) will be showing in 51 N Street NE, WDC: it’s free! There is also an opening party on Friday, November 14 from 6:30–10:00pm. This costs $15 in advance.
Mimesis comes out of a train of thought I have been riding for the past few years. I have been playing with the interface between three categories of objects: plant; animal; and human-made. My goal is to call attention to the categories we use to divide up the world, in an attempt to free ourselves to see things as unhooked from our expectations. In these works I have been combining (layering, morphing, aligning using Photoshop) different objects that share visual characteristics. (See these series: Pseudomorphs; Celestial Bodies; Correspondences.)
Mimesis: Leaf & Keyhole
In the Mimesis images I started with the physical objects themselves. I chose pairs of things (one natural, one human-made) that have similar shapes and then physically manipulated one of the pair to more resemble the other. I started with the metal keyhole plate, which had a leaf shape, and then cut the hole out of a real leaf.
“Mimesis” means imitation and, by extension, representation. In what sense can we say the leaf represents the keyhole?
When I saw first two images together I knew the book form would be perfect for this series, each pair could occupy a spread. And so I’ve made a book from these images, called… mimesis. The book incorporates one continuous eight foot long piece of inkjet printed canvas that folds into an accordion structure. I will produce this book in a very small edition (six, I think) and the price will be $500. I will edition individual prints (each pair makes one print) in 11″ x 14″ and sell these for $150. Contact me if you would like to order directly from the artist.
This work will be featured in a group show called PHOTOBOOK at Vivid Solutions Gallery, November 7 – December 19 with an Opening Reception on Friday, November 7 from 6–8 pm.
You can also see a mimesis prototype and some mounted prints in my studio, Black Lab. A good time to come is this Thursday, October 16, 6:00–8:00pm during the Third Thursday open studios on the Arts Walk. Many studios will be open and some will be hosting special events. 716 Monroe Street NE, Studio #16, Washington, DC 20017. We are steps from the Brookland/CUA Metro Station, Red Line.
Prototype of mimesis, an accordion book incorporating all the Mimesis images.
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