Talisman Tapestries
My most recent body of work is composed of paint tapestries that reference the body, architecture and ritual artifacts.
Each work is created through a collage process. Paint skins and gouache abstractions are sliced and recombined and then embedded in poured paint. They are displayed on the wall suspended without a canvas or armature. They are ornate, detailed and intimate in their presentation and execution.
Small, organic, pale, pink forms run down the center spine of the work. These fleshy pieces suggest the tender parts of the body. Line, edge, verticality and pattern echo urban architectural convention.
The human scale and the joyful color are a way of coming to a comfortable understanding of the body within the contemporary cityscape. Moreover, the hypnotic process of creating and receiving each piece is a meditative act that references ritual art like Aboriginal dreamings and protective talisman.
Ultimately, the work is a search and a proposal for interaction between the vulnerable human form, with its needs for beauty and spirit, and the patchwork architecture of the postmodern city.