Durational Painting and Installations
In my work, the process of erasure and incremental distance from one generation to the next manifests through the use of areas of intense color and texture alongside ornamental patterns, motifs and structures that fade in and out of the surface of the canvases. The paintings are situated on physical as well as psychological planes, a palimpsest where fading memories are screened through a present moment that feels less than stable in some ways. My video work bridges the painting process and motion pictures to arrive at a new format for painting as an event. The process is called “‘durational painting.” These pieces begin by layering paint in sheets of ice, freezing each layer of acrylic and material so that they accumulate layers of color and texture. Placing the frozen mass outside, I allow it to melt according to natural weather conditions, filming the process with a tight zoom. The entropic process gives way to a microcosmic glimpse of elapsing geologic time. They reflect the ambient conditions of the site they are made in: light, temperatures, time of day, location, our climate at large, and a historic resonance. This is a new context for understanding abstract painting that calls for deep viewing and appreciating the potential of materials used to act with their own agency.
