Smoke on Paper

This direction of work recognizes drawing as a finished work of art, not as a preparatory stage.

Being called conservative created a flood of introspection. It was not meant to be a moral or political observation, but one of accumulation. I recognized my hording and preservationist tendencies. Each carries an actual weight or emotional baggage. Over time the weight turns to limitations in the form of barriers or hindrances creating a burden to carry.

The smokes came from a recognition of these qualities in accordance with a desire to rid myself of the burden and the resulting hindrances. I combined a self help technique of burning sentimental things to remove the emotional burden with the realization that smoke makes marks, good and bad. Bad as in the accumulative damage smoke had on the Sistine Chapel ceiling and good, in that it was something that could be controlled and give a new purpose. The smoke is the result of an act and evidence of a transformation. It is evidence of a struggle against what is, seemingly, not there. The image is evidence of control over an unruly medium.

Prior to traveling I had to clean my wallet from the accumulation of useful and seemingly useful things. I questioned each use versus its burden. Bonus cards, Red Cross card, library cards, IDs, bank cards, gift cards, membership cards, and credit cards, expired or not, were part of the load and each carried a unique burden, What was supposedly a useful thing, was now, literally a pain in the ass, and needed to be rid. A similar inventory, outside of the wallet resulted in more fuel for the fire. Drugs, pictures, gifts, re-gifts, artwork, old slides of artwork, all present a burden that needed to be lifted, or transformed. So with each burn, the resulting smoke carries with it the ties and the remains of its burden. Which in turn creates new ones.

The images, original and resulting, are abstractions consistent with the burning process concept. Things that once had a practical or natural use are removed from an environment at the expense of their original purpose, often rendering them useless but in the form of entertainment or art. Horses now dive or perform tricks. Bears dance at the end of a rope. Elephants do hand stands.

 

born:

education

Univeristy of Tennessee, MS Curriculum & Instruction, 1994
Univeristy of Tennessee, MFA, 1993
Auburn University, BFA, 1990

selected awards/honors

Penninsula Fine Art Center, Newport News, Virginia, 2006 Biennial Drawing Award

selected publications

Bradley University Gallery, 31st International Print & Drawing Exhibition, catalog, Peoria IL, 2007
Urban Institute of Contemporary Art, Drawing No Conclusion, catalog, Grand Rapids, MI, 2007

selected solo or two-person exhibits

Replacements:Smoke on Paper, Art6 Gallery, RIchmond, VA 2007
"Birding", PVCC North Gallery, Charlottesville, VA

selected group shows

31st International Print & Drawing Exhibition, Bradley University Gallery, Peoria IL, 2007
Drawing No Conclusion, Urban Institute of Contemporary Art, Grand Rapids, MI, 2007
2006 Biennial, Peninsula Fine Arts Center, Newport News, VA