RESOURCE: What do you want people to see?
All of you have been working and exhibiting for a while. You clearly know what you are doing and what you want. With that thought in mind, what message do you want to share with the world? Do you have a specific response you would like to see from viewers?
Wren: I would like viewers to slow down and become quieter as they look at my work. The paintings, especially the larger ones, are composed in many layers and unfold for the viewer over time and in layers too. My hope is that the work stands in contrast to the fast pace of today’s world, where bombardment by empty noise and images is the norm, and offers viewers an alternative reality and a tranquil space for contemplation.
Dagley: In actuality, I have no message to share with anyone. I have no specific response I would like to see from viewers. The head and the heart of my work: Freedom. My Core: DIY. Everything else follows from this.
I find titles are extremely important for abstract art. To me, titles are the little things that tell our story. They help us share ideas with others and begin a dialogue. How do you find titles for your work?
Lori Kirkbride: Up until recently I pretty much didn’t title anything. I really didn’t like having a title just to have one unless there was a compelling reason. This usually happened with my installation work, but not with paintings. Though recently this has become more of a problem because I don’t even number things and it became hard to keep things organized.
For this show and its reference to women’s history, I ultimately felt compelled to title my pieces. I chose women’s names, Lilly after Lilly Pulitzer whom I have found inspiring to my work and Betty. Betty is my grandmother’s name. However, the painting is not really named after her and she did not inspire my work. I wanted more old world women’s names for the series, some of which are real people, some not, some close to me, some not.
Dagley: The use of titles in my work functions to describe the underlying system. Contrarily the majority of my paintings are actually titled “No Title”.
LaRocco: My titles come as I complete a painting, sometimes after. Usually they are tied to the emotional experience that is the impetus for the painting, though not always. I’ll give you an example. I have a painting called “The Importance of Damage.” I finished this painting and still had a hard time coming up with a title. It so happened that the painting had a lot of cracks around the edges - damage from transport. I was sitting there thinking about people and how the things that hurt them also make them grow and develop. I was thinking of that and looking at the cracks in the painting and that gave me the title. Later, I accidentally knocked the painting over onto a jar and resulting in these great cracks radiating out from its center. I took that to mean that my title was a good one.
Glen, please tell us about the concept behind your shaped canvases.
Cunningham: The work in this show included paintings of forms and visual planes within shapes of non-conventional stretched canvases. I find that when I am hanging the works that they need more room than a normal abstract painting because they inherently relate to the architectural environment that they are in. My paintings are an exploration of spatial relationships within the canvas and the relationship of the shaped canvas within the room.
I am interested in tension between shapes and I like that each piece is different, some having this great tension and others breaking rules that I was previously taught about composition, such as not including arrows at the edges of the painting. I am intrigued by the thought of the viewers eyes following the lines within the shapes, and the I try to direct the viewer with more prominent lines. I enjoy the puzzle aspect of building a shaped canvas. Each one is different in terms of structuring and strengthening weak sections in the support. I’ve developed formulas which take my smaller drawings to a larger scale to keep them in proportion. I never start a piece without a completed successful drawing.
Mark, please talk about the installation/placement of work and experimentation. Your installation in Source reminded me of Jo Baer’s show I saw years ago at Dia Chelsea. Some of her paintings were installed very low on the wall, almost touching the floor. Is there a connection?
Dagley: The compositional device and hanging of Jo Baer’s “Wrap Arounds” are of historical importance to post-minimalist painting and structure making. The work of mine (in the Source exhibition) was hung as close to the ceiling as possible only to take advantage of the architectural context, the long hallway and the painted wall. To be able to walk underneath the painting, to even not notice it was of some interest to me also.
Laura, as a yogi, I love the idea of wabi-sabi. According to Wikipedia it is related to Buddhism, acceptance, asymmetry, simplicity, modesty, intimacy, and the suggestion of natural processes. Please tell us more about it and how is reflected in your work.
Fayer: Wabi sabi is about finding beauty in imperfection and insight in nature; the emphasis is on authenticity. It’s underplayed and modest, “the kind of quiet undeclared beauty that waits patiently to be discovered.” –Robyn Griggs Lawrence
Wabi sabi also finds beauty in the passage of time. It recognizes history, allows for missteps and editing, concealing and revealing.
I allow imperfection in my work and encourage the unexpected in an oddly shaped paint passage or a seemingly unfinished pattern. I believe this is where the beauty and heart of my work can be found – in the spaces that hang in the balance, the edges of the canvas that reveal the many layers applied over time, the colors that have been edited, the evidence of changes of mind and the fluidity and organic nature of my process.
