This blog has served me well over the past 2 years. It has been a platform to speak my mind, heart and soul. I am proud of the work I have created and the progress I have made.
Thank you all for sharing this time with me.
Christine
Trying to do spring cleaning and considering packing up my studio. I have little inspiration and feel like my studio is just a room I walk through and keep crap in. Maybe good to put everything away until I am passionate about something again. ?????
My work represents the physical marks that a disease and trauma leaves on the body. I have been inspired to find a way to convey my personal experience with the loss of a friend to a serious illness. In my work I experiment with distressing the surfaces of my painting, similar to how someone’s body has to endure fighting a disease or surviving an emotional trauma.
This journey began after my friend was diagnosed with lymphoma. I took a trip to the Bodies exhibit located in Atlantic Station in Atlanta, Georgia. I was intrigued by the body without skin. I responded to the displays of connective tissue, nervous system and by drawing them in detail. With a better understanding of the human body and its intricacies, I felt compelled to take these influences and apply them to my work. I desired to emulate the body, skin, tissue and form in a non-literal manner. I took the images from my sketchbook, and the energy and therapeutic process they offered, and translated them abstractly onto larger pieces of canvas and paper.
The process I have developed involves working and re-working the canvas or paper so much that I often scratch or tear holes in the picture plane. I treat surfaces with white or tinted gesso and my intuitive marks, mostly black lines of various thicknesses, create a dramatic contrast. I apply torn and distressed fragments of stockpiled materials, such as old drawings, printed copy and tissue paper. I use mediums improperly, not paying strict attention to the suggested limitations of a medium. If I feel it is right, the material goes on the surface. Mostly the surface tells me what it wants. I try to listen very carefully and follow without disagreeing too often. I incorporate opaque and transparent layering, blending elements with glue, gesso, charcoal, oil paint, ink, Georgia dirt, pencil marks, hot wax, burnishing thread and matte medium. Layering these elements is essential to creating depth in my work. I create an irregular surface that draws the viewer in to discover what is hidden within.
