I’m attempting a woodcut a day. At the end of the month I’ll assemble a single piece to represent all of March 2011.

Here is yesterday’s:

NPR Chief Resigns as Network’s Setbacks Mount

NPR Chief Resigns as Network’s Setbacks Mount

I recently transformed my studio at McColl Center for Visual Art for an event honoring the 3 founders of the Center. The installation was a hit as I hosted ~50 patrons, staff and artists in my studio for dinner as part of the evening’s program.

My approach was to create a space using imagery and elements from my recent explosion woodcuts. I ended up with nine 4′x8′ panels of masonite, painted, drawn and and cut out, then mounted about 2″ away from the wall. Mounting them this way echoes the shallow space found in the woodcuts. I then used camouflage netting and lumber to construct amorphous canopies over each of the 6 tables  to create smaller more intimate  spaces within the large room.

See photos of the process of creating the installation on my Flickr page.

See photos from the actual event at the Center’s Flickr page.

“Who has fully realized that history is not contained in thick books but lives in our very blood?”
–Carl Jung

“Americans love to fight. All real Americans love the sting of battle.”
–George S. Patton

I’m fascinated by the ways people create and use stories in making sense of their lives. I’m especially interested in how these stories morph freely to meet the changing needs of those they serve. The result is often a disjointed hodgepodge of past and present symbols, characters and connections that might be perfectly functional to an insider, but quite bewildering to the uninitiated. For example, try explaining the grab bag of symbolism on US currency to someone who has never seen it. Nonetheless, it seems to work just fine for most Americans without explanation. From our own personal narratives to the grand mythologies of ancient civilizations, these stories are essential in providing context, order and direction in our lives.

People love stories and often consume them in the form of sport. Most sports seem to me thinly veiled dramas of struggle that are acted out to indulge our more base tendencies without being detrimental to society. As the actors execute the script (chasing whatever objective constrained by whatever rules) they and the invested spectator go for a wild emotional ride as the story unfolds. The fans’ bloodlust and basic tribal nature are satisfied in a fairly benign way. This is true for Roman gladiators as much as for 8 year old kids in a local youth soccer game. All the triumphs, failures, displays of bravery or ineptitude are much more than parts of a game – all these turns represent and reinforce our values and how we think the world works. This is why Babe Ruth stands next to George Washington in the pantheon of our national identity. I’m interested in imagery of knocked out or otherwise beleaguered fighters because I see in them a tragic but venerable sacrifice to this cause. 2 men enter an arena, each confident he will dominate the other. Only one succeeds. The other ends up possibly unconscious, helpless and humiliated. Provided the winner prevailed in an honorable way, every spectator, on some level, will identify with the victor, since identifying with the vanquished would be too upsetting. So I am interested in the image of the vanquished, without whom, there could be no victor.

My use of explosion imagery addresses another function of the story: to brace the individual against external forces in the world. Without narratives that explain the inherent unfairness and unpredictability of life and assure of us better times, people might not have many tools for dealing with life’s inevitable disappointments and losses. Explosions are sudden and devastating, often catching those in range by complete surprise. A well crafted narrative can be quite valuable when an explosion-like life event occurs.

Friday, July 3, Ill be at the opening of The Woodcut Show at 311 W. Martin in Raleigh. The above image and a couple others of mine will be included in what looks to be a very cool and unique show. The emphasis will be on process as woodblocks as well as proofs from the individual color blocks will be displayed along side the finished prints. I have found that people are often as fascinated by the process as they are by the result. So hopefully this show will win us woodcut fanatics some converts!

Explosion 1

Explosion 2

Why Explosions?

As I was preparing for my show at Artspace a couple months ago, I came across several small, uncut woodblocks in the studio. Since I had been working on larger, more involved pieces, I thought it would be cool to do something quick and different. I had been playing around with the idea of explosions in my sketchbook, so I decided to give it a go on a couple blocks. I normally draw pretty straight forward subject matter from various reference sources, but with these I wanted to just create something from nothing. So I put the charcoal and eraser to the wood and reacted to each step as it happened until the image seemed resolved. The results are Explosion 1 and Explosion 2.

Nobody really seemed too interested in these little explosions, but I was intrigued. I started doing some larger explosion drawings to see what I could come up with. In addition to being interested in the idea of an explosion, I used these drawings as an opportunity to move beyond my usual drawing materials and techniques. I was more interested in what kind of marks I could discover than coming up with great drawings. Several drawings later, it was time to go back to the wood, this time a little larger. I took bits and pieces of things that I came up with in the drawings and brought them together in one piece – a “greatest hits” compilation of sorts. I’m sure some people work this way all the time, but it’s quite a departure from my usual method. So far, it has been fun and rewarding.

So why make images of explosions? Since the declaration of the “global war on terror,” I have been interested in how we as a society seek a sustainable balance between our ideals of individual privacy/freedom and security of the greater populace. Things are especially interesting now that there is a new administration and these issues are being discussed more openly.

Explosions are a universal symbol of modern warfare. Though there are still gun battles, it seems more characteristic that sides engage each other remotely, using either road side explosives or high-tech guided bombs and missiles. Either way, it seems that there are an awful lot of civilian casualties. And even when bombs are not going off, the people living in the war zone are forced to go through day to day life with the knowledge that some sort of bomb could go off at any time. That level of uncertainty must take a toll on a people’s psyche after a while. So, in the broadest sense, explosions represent anxiety and uncertainty to me.

The explosions that I am creating are not intended to be realistic representations of how explosions or look or even how they work. Most real explosions that I have seen are not visually impressive. An exception would be fireworks, which are carefully designed for visual effect. But even with the most visual of fireworks, their power comes from a combination of what you see, what you hear and what you FEEL. My favorite fireworks are the ones where you see the light of the explosion, and based on the speed of the expansion, you say, “this is going to be a good one.” Then a second later you hear the low pitched BOOM! and feel the concussive force hit your chest. I’d like to distill that into an image.

Also informing my personal concept of explosions is what I see on t.v., the web and in movies. Hollywood explosions are like beautiful cumulus clouds of roiling orange fire. Then there are all the DIY movies from soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan often shot in green and white night vision. Explosions show up as the screen being whited out suddenly, then the image fading back in. And since Desert Storm we have had cockpit-cam and bomb/missile-cam footage. We watch the target get closer and closer, then an eerily understated black screen. Of course I should mention the old footage of nuclear test detonations, with the iconic mushroom cloud, the atomic winds then the storm of fire that follows. As a kid, it was always in the back of my mind (and sometimes the front) that I could see one of those mushroom clouds rising on the horizon at any time.

Here is the drawing for the next Mesopotamian print. I really love this sculpture because it speaks of the desire for immortality and the futility of that desire. I guess, on one hand, the image survives. But having been defaced, does it not make the subject seem a bit arrogant and foolish? I imagine a grimy thief or foot soldier prying the gem from and smashing the eye socket of the calm, proud face as the chaos of an ancient city falling rages.

Also, I have work in 3 shows in NC right now:

Raleigh:
Artspace New AAA – New Members
Morning Times Gallery – Black & White Group Show

Charlotte:
greenriceGallery – greenriceGallery Artists

Next Month I will be featured in the Upfront Gallery at Artspace in a solo show, Two Rivers.

1st print on the new press…

I have finally completed this print. I really enjoy mixing the organic nature of freehand mark making with the organized systems of these patterns and the hard and complex character of machines. Now I need to finish the 2 other military/police related blocks I have cut. I attempted to print a 2 color version of Police Tower, but the 2 runs of ink rejected each other and looked blotchy. I think I know what the issue is will try again shortly.  I am still waiting for my press to arrive, but I have a show deadline approaching so I will continue printing by hand for now.
A few weeks ago I attended a workshop called Innovative Color Woodcut by Endi Poskovic. What a flood of information and ideas! Over the course of 2 days we learned about Endi’s technical and conceptual approach to creating his work, and managed to crank out a piece of our own. Mine is below. One of the interesting things I took away from the workshop was that working with speed can lead to a fresh, immediate image and open the door for a lot of cool surprises. Of course I knew this, but had forgotten it in practice. I also learned several ways to add more color without cutting a ton of extra blocks. I can tell that I will be processing all that I learned for a long time to come.