Spell of the Senuous #5

"As we have already seen, the process of learning to read and write with the alphabet engenders a new, profoundly reflexive, sense of self. The capacity to view and even to dialogue with one's own words after writing them down, or even in the process of writing them down, enables a new sense of autonomy and independence from others, and even from the sensuous surroundings that had earlier been one's constant interlocutor." (page 112)

In response to this passage, I decided to embroider, thinking about language, as well as the experience of communication. I chose to use to works "speak", "vous parlez" (you speak in french) and "listen". I used recycled canvas with green paint, which I thought went well with the writing because of the spontaneity that language can hold.

Spell of the Senuous Responses

Spell of the Senuous #1

"'Ancestor worship,' in its myriad forms, then, is ultimately another mode of attentiveness to nonhuman nature it signifies not so much an awe or reverence of human powers, but rather a reverence for those forms that awareness takes when it is not in human form, when the familiar human embodiment dies and decays to become part of the encompassing cosmos.
      This cycling of the human back into the larger world ensures that the other forms of experience that we encounter...are never absolutely alien to ourselves." (page 16)

For the first response, I decided to draw with marker in response to the passage. I was inspired by the words I read and created a drawing that reflected my thoughts while reading. I started by drawing the plant growing from the skull, and added the quote because I am interested in typography.

Spell of the Senuous #6

"In indigenous, oral cultures, nature itself is articulate; it speaks. The human voice in oral culture is always some extent participant with the voices of wolves, wind, and waves --participant, that is, with the encompassing discourse of an animate earth. There is no element of the landscape that is definitively void of expressive resonance and power: any movement may be a gesture, any sound may be a voice, a meaningful utterance," (117)

I started this response by using a canvas I stretched myself. I first dyed the canvas with wine and ink. I wanted to add to the surface, and this passage resonated with me, so I responded by making marks with acrylic paint and embroidery. I enjoy incorporating different materials within my practice, and  this is one of my favorite responses. For me, the marks resemble the human voice and the marks can be read like gestures.

Long Term installation indoors

Artist Statement

My recent work is a reflection of identity based on the human fingerprint and other visceral evidence. In response to patterns and rhythm in nature, I create organic forms through the use of repetition and mark making. My work is process based, starting with a simple intuitive mark and expanding into something completely new, eventually establishing an order. 

I started with the idea of the fingerprint, relating to personal identity. I was also thinking about the layers of personality, and what makes up a person's life. I experimented by dying rice paper, and then using an exacto knife to cut the paper in repeated order. I transformed these two dimensional surfaces into a three dimensional sculpture. 

This is an older drawing from Contemporary Drawing practices that I had archived (2016); It correlates directly with my current work