a new alchemy

I'm still discovering so much with this new direction and this body of work. some significant themes I can highlight and share with you are: 

time: i’ve created a time loop by using painting from 2019. the canvas is manipulated and unraveled and I've used clay to bridge it into the now. the technique of unraveling is another aspect that speaks to the idea of time. I think of the Penelope on Ithaca, stilling time by undoing the funeral shroud she’s weaving. There is power in quiet work, done in secret, done alone. Time moves, but you can move with it, count it, savour it, slow it. 

storytelling: there is a relationship between these pieces. this body of work is like a concept album or a book of poetry. each piece is a phrase or a stanza perhaps. on their own there is a lyricism, in combination there is a poem.

renewal/rebirth: directly I am renewing my own work from the past, I’m working with pieces painted as far back as 2019 and finding their full expression only possible in the future, in the now. there are continual cycles that have begun. each viewing is new life, every idea begets another idea. we all keep moving.

ecology: with these pieces I always felt that each element was important. the unraveled canvas, the fluff from the canvas weave and every bit of clay. every aspect found a new life, a place in this telling. I feel every piece is important as it presents an opportunity for new consideration. nothing is lost, nothing is left behind. all is precious.

the medium: since i started working with clay, I felt there was a way to bridge my work, to create a new expression, a new alchemy. how can they have absolute need of each other; how can the separation become an impossibility?