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Movement Studies of Ash, 2007
Sharpie on cotton paper
Lines are used in many ways to convey information. Artists use them in both literal and abstract ways. Lines can define the outer edge of a shape; they can determine positive and negative space; they can record the pattern of movement or gesture. Lines can be very literal, however, a physical object is not made of lines and more often than not the movement or gestures we record don’t leave actual lines. But linear information makes sense to us even if the line itself is an abstract idea.
For this work I choose a fixed point – either a hand or a foot – on my daughter. Adapting the method used for blind contour drawing I draw the path and impression of movement of that hand or foot. Blind contour drawings are made by fixing one’s eyes on the subject and drawing its contour or outline continuously without lifting the pen or looking at the paper. In this case waving, rolling, kicking, patting, pauses and other information is illustrated by line quality – the heavy, fine, bold, quick, or slow characteristics of the line – documenting the direction of movement and development.
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Elevated Plastic, 2006
acrylic on panel
Living in rural Utah we have vast landscapes and a vast super store. Often the plastic bags that drift out of shopping carts and into roadside ditches get caught up in a wind and find themselves floating high above the accelerating traffic of Highway 89, then away to quiet back roads and pastures. I believe the plastic bags relish these flights.
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Land and Sea, 2006
oil on panel
This body of work explores the relationship between the static and fluid qualities of natural spaces, specifically the coast of Southern Mexico and the Wasatch Plateau. At the edge of a wave washing up, each wave leaves a thin line of silt on the sand then recedes back into the ocean. Silt is alternatively pushed and pulled repeatedly by each wave and the curved lines create overlapping shapes. There is a familiarity in the patterns of the lines and the outline of mountains. My Utah mountains are in southern Oaxaca. I live near mountains and these shapes and contours are more representative of the land rather than the sea. I’m interested in the visual and sensory overlapping of grounded geologic formation versus the cyclic, fleeting motion of the sea. |
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Change & Entropy, 2002
oil on panel
We keep records to document the way things were, the way they are, and in some cases, the way we imagine they may become. We take photos, videos, make recordings… we also paint pictures. We do this because our material world is constantly changing.
This change is one toward chaos, disorder and randomness, or what we know as entropy: the degradation of matter and energy in the universe to an ultimate state of inert uniformity.
In this show the subjects of these paintings have deteriorated from their ideal state and consequently will never be the same. While it is sometimes possible to recreate the appearance of the original, the resemblance is only superficial. The changes are permanent and irreversible.
“…dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return,” Genesis.
Sometimes it is the simple and ordinary that we hope to preserve unchanged. To express this I painted cake—because we understand cake and we understand the change. It’s the same with pet fish, a drinking glass and a potted plant.
Here art and science provide parallel answers to a single question. Art can expand into realms that other disciplines cannot. Through art, the artist is able to pose and answer questions for herself as well as those around her. For me, it’s a way of making sense of myself in relation to the wisdom and knowledge, the chaos and confusion of the world. Through this experience I hope to better understand and portray the nature of change and entropy in order to pursue a personal absolute truth.
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