The first physical work I did for this show was to play with materials, searching for techniques I could use to flesh out what I had mentally envisioned. I have found this is a really important process to engage in— without having a confident understanding of materials and how they work for you, it can be hard to clearly express what’s in your head, or your heart.

I sometimes have trouble settling down for this play-work. It requires patience and presence, engaging in the moment toward no focused end, as when working toward a finished piece. With the printmaking methods I’m using, this process leans more toward literally working the materials- preparing surfaces for use, washing, processing, printing.

Last week I exhibited the work for my undergraduate capstone. It was a great opening filled with friends, family, strangers and food. I will post the exhibited images to the gallery section soon, along with the artist statement- so check back often!

And as always- please share your feedback below!

Later this month I will be having my undergraduate capstone show. Here is a sneak preview of some of the basic compositions I’ve been working on toward that end.

It’s been a busy last few weeks. I spent a lot of time earlier this semester thinking about concepts, sketching compositions and testing various techniques, so now I’m left with comparatively little time to carry out the final pieces. Luckily, that previous work got all of the guessing out of the way, and now I’ve got a reliable feel for the materials. In just the last few weeks I’ve gotten three of the five total pieces printed- the bulk of the not-so-fun work.

Once the printing is done (the part you see here) I will “fill out” the images using various drawing and painting techniques- the more fun, personal and intuitive (and way quicker!) part.

Something I’ve discovered about myself and my working method through this whole process is my desperate need for security. The context of the art exhibition has put some real pressure on me to tighten up too much with my work, some kind of an attempt to guarantee good results- AKA fear of failure- something I’d do well to avoid. Better to have a relaxed confidence, I think.

This drawing began with the figure. I found an old National Geographic magazine with an article on coal towns in Eastern Europe that had some very striking images (I’ll post the issue when I find it). One of them was of a newborn baby on a respirator, struggling against the tubes and wires keeping it alive- something that (pleasantly) ended up sneaking into the conceptual elements of the final piece.

There were a good number of conceptual elements I was trying to pull together in Emergence. Here’s a short list of some of the things I was considering while working:

• Binary relationships and complementary opposites
• Organic versus geometric
• Young versus old, pure versus weathered
• Puppetry, or lack of personal control
• Many more! Discover them yourself

This is the first figure drawing I have done from a photograph, and I’m pretty pleased with the results. My goal was not to copy the photo, but instead to use it as a model. I allowed the image to affect me, to push me. I avoided labeling any specific emotions or feelings, and instead just thought about what the feelings “looked like.” I thought about how I could best express that emotional impetus through line, color (or the absence of it), and texture.

You may be wondering what the background pattern is, and what it means. It was deliberately chosen, although the pattern itself is random in it’s own way. I’ve been reading the work of Stephen Wolfram, as developed in his 2003 book “A New Kind of Science.” It is an excellent book, and is available for free online, in its entirety, on the Wolfram Science website. Watch a great lecture of Wolfram describing his science (90 minutes). The pattern is directly drawn from his research.

I’ll have a bit more up here soon on the materials I used.