Oh, Won't You Play A Song For Me? Painting

Growing up, I went past the piano shop more times than I can count. With its mint green awning and faded 50’s motif, it blended into the dated landscape of downtown. 30 years later the courthouse has been demolished and relocated, in its place a Dollar General. While visiting my parents a few months ago I drove by the trusty piano shop and slowed to a near stop. The sign was gone and there was CAUTION tape neatly wrapped and tied around the building, like an oversized birthday present. Knowing this could only mean one thing I turned around, grabbed my camera and trotted up to the smashed windows hoping to find remnants of a past that I remembered. The faded Yamaha posters still garnered the walls and just there in the back were all of the abandoned pianos left for repairs and never picked up. I hopped through a window and with a sore throat from the harsh reality and injustice of the world I documented what wouldn’t be there the next time a drove by… This piece is an homage to all of the abandoned instruments of the world. The circular patterns are made from images of the strings and pads from the pianos, forever playing in loop. Why the Process is Part of the Message The first stage of production begins with two pieces of industrial grade, recyclable vinyl. A design is applied to each piece of vinyl using inks and acrylic paint. The paints are applied using silk screens and brushes. Each piece of vinyl is then cut into strips, one piece cut horizontal and the other vertical. After the strips have been cut they are woven and stretched over a traditional canvas frame. In order to reach matured textures, strips of canvas are sparingly interwoven with the vinyl. The next step is to apply several coats of paint over the woven vinyl in a specific pattern and color. After the coats have completely dried the piece is ready for sanding. The process of sanding allows for a variety of textures and other elements to surface, such as the base images (which were applied to the vinyl before the vinyl was cut into strips). Sanding has become the pinnacle of production, due to its order in the process and the effects achieved during the process. Once sanding is complete the piece is sealed and is prepared for viewing. A major part of the message each piece conveys rests in the process. The initial pieces of vinyl are likened to an initial event or occurrence where some things are remembered while others are lost. The images, which were once easily seen on the two large pieces of vinyl, become obscured when stripped and woven; all the information is there but not all of it is visible. Adding coats of paint can be likened to the addition of time as even more information becomes obscured, while the sanding reveals the imagery's current state losing it's original form forever. The memory, like the painting, pieces together elements, images and feelings; some obscured, some uncovered, all telling a story.