Theatrical Display Painting

The influence for my work stems from my interest in how the eye leads and is lead. The majority of how and what one sees is fragmentary and laced with ambiguity as demonstrated through experiments in cognitive visual research. Using the innate properties of my chosen materials within formalist drawing and painting concerns,I seek to exploit this ambiguity to allow the mark to be a marker. As the mark and ground is "seen into" and "seen as" the ambiguity gives way to fluid interpretation giving rise to autonomy of meaning. This then re-emphasizes this process, creating an active circular visual dialogue. My choices of materials in the presented work are pencil, dry and wet pigment and Venetian plaster. The plaster, made according to traditional fresco formulation, is polished through sanding and directs the drawing process through irregularities in its surface. Colors added to the plaster enhance this surface. The edges of these irregularities form lines, suggesting shapes that through further drawing or painting are developed into imagery with no preconceived narrative content. The goal of this process is to engage the viewer in the creative act by allowing autonomy of meaning. In this way, the viewer's interpretation becomes as valid as the artists'. This active looking gives the viewer an insight, through this open-ended process, into the choices an artist makes in the production of the work.