Now showing at Kayo Gallery
thru November 13th
"Skulltacular" 17 inches by 22 inches 2008 ink,
paper, shellac, spackle, stand oil, paper, on panel
In the series, Skulls Never Go Out of Style, I refined the fold-over technique often associated with Rorschach tests or ink-blots. The skull portraits were half rendered, half left to an organic outcome. The greater aspect was thankfully beyond my control because I prefer-what I perceive as-organic methods of art making: I want the work to become greater than myself, to go beyond the limitations of what I know. In a sense, I want proof that there is a God. Of course, these timely skulls are all about death or the end of things.
As for the process, I applied ink strategically and then folded and pressed the
paper many times, using symmetry to develop a kind of biology. I applied drops of stand-oil (home-made raw linseed and beeswax) to the paper first, then multiple dilutions of india ink to build the image, then when dry, mounted the paper with archival Yes glue to gessoed hardboard panels, filled distressed areas with spackle, and sealed the paper with multiple layers of shellac, buffed with fine steel wool. I painted the sides of the panels poppy orange purely to create reflected light.
