Along the Path
My current body of work has the overall themes of connection
to past, connection to nature and the multi-faceted theme of legacy. Each has a personal link to my life and
concerns I have for my future.
The connection to past is the theme that
has the most direct relationship to me. The choice to select rocks comes
directly from my childhood. When I was
younger I would collect souvenirs or, as I refer to them now, mementos of
places I had been and significant moments in my life. I felt that it kept me
connected to those moments and memories.
I also felt that by having them together in a bag or in a pile I had the
story of my life before me. After all, I could pick up a rock and remember
camping in the woods, visiting family, graduating high school, taking a walk
after a break up, saying goodbye to a pet, watching a severe storm from my
porch, etc. Each rock was a moment I stopped and made the choice to manifest my
memories in an object.
As a person who grew up in predominately
in the city, I have always relished those moments I got to escape from people and
buildings. I looked forward to camp or long hikes alone in my grandparents the
woods. I am most at peace when surrounded by nothing more than plants and
animals. Rocks are made, broken down,
and shaped in nature. So by collecting rocks as mementos I am not only
connecting myself to them but also using them as lifelines to nature. I chose
rocks as subjects, not only because I collect them, but because of their long
life spans. They won’t decay in a week or year like leaves or sticks. Rocks, like
nature itself, survive.
One definition of legacy is “anything handed down from the
past, as from an ancestor or predecessor.” This theme has been a focus of my work
that I have been struggling to effectively depict it for quite some time.
I am always conscious
of the impact my life will have on the future, what memories or moments define me,
what shape the world will take while I am alive and after I have passed. My
rock series embodies these concerns. Each rock is a legacy of its previous
form; part of a larger whole that was changed by time, elements, or unforeseen
events. Similarly, each rock’s present character
will change. Each rock affects its surroundings. A simple stone may cause
someone to trip and be injured; help hold up a highway; slide and start an
avalanche; cause ripples in the water.
I look at these
rocks, and at my current body of work, wondering “which stone will survive the
test of time? Which painting will be my legacy?” I have saved these pieces of rock as mementos
of moments that shaped who I am today. In making each choice, have I influenced my
own legacy? Will I change the future of those who come after me? With this revelation I see both answers to my
concerns and a new future of my work developing. Not a series of just rocks,
paintings, drawings or still life but
rather a series of legacies embracing the concerns of childhood and nature.
Process
I begin the process of making these pieces by first doing
several sketches. Each sketch concerns its self with a different aspect of the
work. They might consist of value studies, composition sketches, specific rock
studies, or working out several thumbnail ideas of a working title (example:
nine different sketches of the title Written in Stone).
After that I select the best rocks that fit my idea,
composition, or title based on my sketches. Then I begin placing them and
setting up controlled lighting so I have control over as many variables as
possible. Sometimes I will do a pre-sketch in my book before actually using the
canvas or board. Other times I will do a couple quick sketches on my medium
before diving into the painting or drawing itself. By going through this entire
process not only do I arrive, most times, at a pleasing finished piece but each
stage contributes to the final piece.
Hence each piece becomes a micro-example of the entire body
of work. Each step equals my memories or moments, each stage builds to the
current work and each work is the legacy of the final process. Therefore in the
body of work each finished product is a moment in the body of work’s life. When
the viewer sees the body of work in a gallery, they can see how each failure, triumph,
and piece has affected the next and led to the complete picture.
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