OVERWRITE

or Each thing is a palimpsest of its many material transformations waiting to be deciphered.

Made from recycled paper and drawings, watercolor paper, polyurethane foam, gesso, utility paint, mineral solvents, acrylic, oil, damar, uv archival spray on stretched canvas.

I wanted to find a way to process and analyze some of the 100s of lbs of sketches, doodles and research notes I've built up over decades. Watching nature, I took inspiration from ecology—particularly how fungi, mold, and erosion break down old bodies to redeploy their elements in the service of new life. Some sketches were shredded into filaments and gooped with acrylic medium. Some were decayed back into pulp using solvents and applied as a mash. Others were shredded, some collaged, some baubled into big gobs of polyurethane foam. Once I’d created a living, dynamic surface from hundreds of old papers, I then began to sink layers of paint into it. Over months, I tried to recreate the seething of a natural ecosystem with paint, one that lived and breathed with the spirit of all those papers. A living forest of art.

48" x 48".
Available