the story of four paintings and no triptych
blog 001 – July 18, 2018
When I first started there were three paintings all were the same height and they seem to want to be part of the collective (a triptych). Travel would be the center piece with la situacion to the left and locutus³ on the right, they were born that way. From the beginning these three were together, inseparable from the original sketches and design, through the stretching process to the gridding and execution they were one and I expected them to remain one.
My time to create became scarce for several years and eventually the pieces went into storage. When I retrieved them from the storage, years later there was change of attitude between the triplets. I am unsure if it was the length of time or the tight quarters but they lost interest in being a group or I lost interest in the grouping. When they emerged from the storage phase of their lives Travel, la situacion and locutus³ no longer had an interest in being one.
Travel, August 2017 Oil Paint on Canvas 56” x 50” (H x W)
Travel was the first one to break free of the pack: it established its independence sometime in July 2017. It was not only breaking away from the pack but braking away from earlier paintings. It had no words on the canvas; the hues were brighter and the figures (although still present) became secondary to the many landscapes that populated the space. After Travel came Digging Bones, a larger painting with no ties to the others because of its singularity in dealing with health issues. All of the paintings mentioned here were in production together; I work several pieces at a time until one or the other demands my full attention. After Digging Bones was finished one of the outliers, the swamp, started to demand more of my time and it became the one to work on, leaving behind the other two in the triptych.
The end of December 2017 came around and we had to close down the studio for reconstruction of the space. It would be almost four months before we were able to return. During that time the three works in progress went into storage while the two finished works enjoyed the South Beach lifestyle at an exhibition curated by Ms. Rosie Gordon Wallace, founder of DVCAI (see photo).
In the spring of 2018, the three other works come out of storage. The painting, the swamp, becomes the one to work on. It continues to be a work about my three biological kids for some time and about the time I establish it is finished, it becomes clear that the work is about the chaos and anxiety created in my life. Gone are the visible portraits of the children and instead there are ghost-like shapes of their heads, surrounded by wine bottles and energetic brush strokes. the swamp is the anxiety, chaos, and disjointed feelings of my life.
(IMAGE)
the swamp, June 2018 Oil Paint, Paper Collage on Canvas 44” x 72” (H x W)
la situacion o the state of affairs is the next work and it stems from a personal situation that is ongoing during that time and how I am reacting to it or going through the issues at hand.
(IMAE)
la situacion o state of affairs, June 2018 Oil Paint & Glitter on Canvas 56” x 26” (H x W)
locutus³ is the period at the end of the sentence. It is a record of passage from the chaotic and anxiety driven nature of the swamp, to the still but daunting nature of la situacion and through the insecurity of not knowing to the security of sanctuary, faith and trust.
(IMAGE)
locutus³, June 2018 Oil Paint, Glitter & Paper Collage on Canvas 26” x 56” (H x W)
the swamp, la situacion and locutus³ become the pseudo triptych, connected by current events in my life but independent in their existence.