This body of work represents a deeper exploration into the use of extreme texture in my work.
Early in the exploration I am trying to incorporate texture, shape, color and line as part of the formal elements of composition. Toward the later half of the year I began to edit the choice of elements and decided that color and line were not as important to me as the texture. I’ve been trying to develop a language or kind of alphabet with the textural materials as a means of expression.
I spent the first 5 months of this year, in COVID lockdown at Villa del Palmerino , Florence, where I had planned a 3 month artist residencey. It was during the end of this time that the cross began to appear in my work. In this instance I am using the cross as a symbol of hope in a time of despair.
All pieces are acrylic mixed media on wood panel.
- The images “Beauty” and “The Beast” were a direct reaction to the spread of the Cororna Virus in Italy, while I was an artist in residence for 5 months
- Many of these images were completed or started while on my artist residency in Florence
- All images consider free exploration of transparency, form, and use of tissue and fabric