Sunday, November 23, 2014

New Work

I am obsessively developing a new project that I feel will be the most important work of my life. I have never had a clearer vision or stronger conviction for a body of work. I have shown the sketches and life-size cartoons to several curators, and we all agree that the imagery I am working with is something that has not been seen before. Several people have told me, “you can’t do that!’, which, to me, confirms that I am really on to something. 

Difficult life circumstances have dictated series of small, intimate works for a while now, but, the past two years, I have also been researching and gestating the series that is now unfolding in the studio. The work is difficult, confrontational, and, after all the research I have done, I can say with confidence that some of it is unprecedented. Although there will be some fiber-based work, this series also marks my return to painting after a 6-year hiatus. The circumstances of the last 5 years have not been conducive to creating large paintings until very recently, when I was able to sublet a decent size studio for the entire summer at a very low price. The experience changed my life: I was finally able to start work on this series, and I realized that I had to find a way to stay in an adequate studio to execute all of these large paintings. This series will consume me at least through 2015. As 2 galleries showing my work have closed in the past few years, I will be looking for someone brave enough to show it, or I will do a pop-up show on my own. I am furiously writing grant proposals to fund the studio and some of the expenses of production... if the grants do not come through, I will resort to an art-based, vetted fundraising campaign. 

There are sub-series within the larger series. The first sub-series of 6 is close to completion. Here is a teaser: