Dear Red: Journey of Origins/works on paper exhibit

Exhibition at McNutt Gallery, Iowa City, Iowa
November 15, 2014

Diagram of light installation

"When Sue Wears Red"

When Sue Wears Red by Langston Hughes

When Susanna Jones wears red
her face is like an ancient cameo
Turned brown by the ages.
Come with a blast of trumphets, Jesus!

When Susanna Jones wears red
A queen from some time-dead Egyptian night
Walks once again.
Blow trumphets, Jesus!

And the beauty of Susanna Jones in red
Burns in my heart a love-fire sharp like a pain.
Sweet silver trumphets, Jesus!

Dear Red exhibition

artist statement

Rich in history, science and theory, color has always seem to surface as my subject in painting.  The combination of these attributes fuel my work of studying color and their relationships.  Building upon this foundation, pattern, space and form of a fundamental design encourage a narrative.  Using natural forms and basic shapes from experience or intuition to revive the core structure of our existence into a pictograph of a moment, memory or thought.  

advisor meeting with Dianne

My skype meeting with Dianne, was enlightening as always.  We chatted about my plans for the Dear Red series and its associations with the artificial versus the organic.  Also color aid paper to be able to identify the different reds, also comparing that to graphic designs and painting.  Using natural light versus artificial light in the interpretation of the colors.  Suggestions to dig in deep with the color theory and master that to master more of the color relations.  References were plentiful; Betty Saar, John Cage and specifically De Koonings use of natural light and the abstract expressionists.  We chatted about a studio visit, and Guererra Paints in the East Village for pigments.

Red saved my soul:)

It has always seemed that a right of passage for American painters was to travel Europe.  I completely agree, not just because you are immersed daily in the history of painting, but because you find the opportunity to put yourself in place amongst all the other painters of the world.  I have been extremely lucky to travel and see beautiful things, majestic sites of history and to be able to see how I fit in all of this.  Quite a few of you asked during our time in Berlin about my heritage and how I am and am not using this in my work.  Well the time has come where it has.  I find myself in an position that I have been given the insight to see that clearly for the first time.  I have found myself doing things that definitely weren't on my proposal and creating in a way that resonates so deeply with myself I can not even put it into words, yet completely different than any other work I have produced.  My time here, has awakened something that has lied dormant inside of me for my entire life, I am aware of a series of events that put me in this place and you are all a part of that.  I was terrified to set out on this journey because you never know what you will find out about yourself, when you are given the chance to listen whole-heartedly.  I have found thus far through my research of red and my Ojibwe heritage that we are all linked undoubtedly by this color.  That my ancestors spiritually connect with this color and the subject matter, of rocks, that I have become magnetized to, are part of that spirituality.  This journey has turned out to be an incredible start to a more pure art for myself that resonates with every drop of my soul and to connect us through to the color red that runs through our veins.  I can not wait to share this experience in person in NYC and for you to be witness to this transformation that has changed my life forever, it will grow and evolve into something more I am certain. Ciao for now and a big thank you for the support, whether you knew you were giving it or not, for all of this to happen:)

my presentation told me a story

http://thislittlepigment.blogspot.de/2014/08/day-13magic-words-hurt-my-head.html

primary painting

Using my route from my apartment in Kreuzberg to Uferstudios on the U/S bahn for inspiration.  Each blocking of color is the color of the station tiles.  Constantly documenting the beautiful colors, it seemed appropriate to use this wonderful color map to make a very Barnett Newman tribute painting of sorts.  My zip is crooked, but so is path.  HA!