From my studio praxis I selected a dozen small paintings, (1 small work on paper and 11 on canvas or linen,) and wrote Artist Notes for the group show, "Danses Vulnerables- Bodies Telling Stories In Their Fact Of Presence". I will participate in it along with seven other Transart Institute for Creative Research practice-based PhDs. We will mount the exhibit at LJMU's Exhibition Research Lab (ERL) during this TT-LJMU July 2024 residency in Liverpool.
Artist Notes on selections from my praxis portfolio "AutoAbstraction"
• Paintings shown are characteristic of the color palette and gestural brushwork that defines much of my final praxis portfolio, AutoAbstraction, which I created between October 2021-August 2023. The 70 or so total artworks are comprised predominantly of paintings, but also include 20+ works on cotton rag board or paper, a few photographs, a digital painting, and a felted hanging. Sizes range from 6 x 6 inches to 38 x 180 inches.
• The initial impetus for my thesis project came from researching color to teach a color theory course. Early on, I was motivated by my own olive complexion, and focused my studio explorations on ethnographic, autoethnographic, and human skin tone palettes. For creative references, I collected hundreds of digital and/or analog:
o Color wheels and charts
o Historical ethnic maps
o Fitzpatrick Skin Type Scales, aka SPF charts
o Beauty industry product promotional color charts
o Pantone SkinTone Guides
• In part due to the paintings skin tone related palettes, and in part due to the painterly nature of the brushwork, some pieces readily lend themselves to an abstracted figurative or psychosexual reading…i.e., “Fallen Angel with Green Helmet,” “Reading,” and “Spread.” I tend to see this aspect after I’ve complete a work, and once I do, I think that it’s undeniable, and/or funny, and/or alarming, and of course very ‘Freudian.’ The figurative and psychosexual aspects of my work speak to the:
o Visceral connection between human sexuality and painting
o Links between my own creativity, sexual healing, and personal power
• The gesturally abstract way in which I executed most of my praxis paintings, which throughout my career, is how I typically make all underpaintings, is consistently likened to graffiti. I explain this in a couple of ways…it:
o Connects me to the history of abstract painting, for which I have a deep affinity
o Reminds me that I live, work and am influenced by a graffitied New York City environment
• The titles, like the visuals, are influenced by my research and teaching in aesthetics, art history, color theory, and autotheory. Both the visual and written aspects of my texts speak to my post post-minimal (body-centric,) post-feminist (gender inclusive,) art historically referential position. After I title a piece, or a body of work, I usually feel it is complete.
• When I exhibit works, I gain a sense of independence from them.
