"Automatic intrigue... Cellular nuerons, cosmic micro and macroscopic biology... Complete unto itself..."
-Ken Johnson, NY Times
Vito Acconci states while reviewing this work:
"Looking from above, as maps, I get lost in the lines of the drawing..."
I sandblast growth and weathering patterns into drywall. Embedded directly into the wall, the ecological imagery lives simultaneously as a painting and a sculpture. Ancient minerals and biological forms are forcefully blasted out of and into modern day, inorganic, utilitarian material. In controlled chaos, accelerated erosion takes place which yields a monumental, synthetic fossil as the final form.
The origin of each relief is derived from my drawings, black ink on paper. This imagery resembles organized branch-like structures scientifically termed dendritic. I’ve observed that this recurring pattern is echoed within the architecture of trees, roots, coral reefs, water tributaries, topography, cells, and vascular/ nervous systems.
The entire process reveals the inner structure of gypsum and allows the resourced mineral to mutate back into its original, sedimented form while simultaneously preserving it. The final wall installation appears like white, delicate frost and evokes the moon. The subtractive process of the surface treatment, counters a constructive effect, simulating the power and fragility in our ecosystem. This balance raises a question about our interaction with the earth. Is our relationship with our environment symbiotic or parasitic?
-Ken Johnson, NY Times
Vito Acconci states while reviewing this work:
"Looking from above, as maps, I get lost in the lines of the drawing..."
I sandblast growth and weathering patterns into drywall. Embedded directly into the wall, the ecological imagery lives simultaneously as a painting and a sculpture. Ancient minerals and biological forms are forcefully blasted out of and into modern day, inorganic, utilitarian material. In controlled chaos, accelerated erosion takes place which yields a monumental, synthetic fossil as the final form.
The origin of each relief is derived from my drawings, black ink on paper. This imagery resembles organized branch-like structures scientifically termed dendritic. I’ve observed that this recurring pattern is echoed within the architecture of trees, roots, coral reefs, water tributaries, topography, cells, and vascular/ nervous systems.
The entire process reveals the inner structure of gypsum and allows the resourced mineral to mutate back into its original, sedimented form while simultaneously preserving it. The final wall installation appears like white, delicate frost and evokes the moon. The subtractive process of the surface treatment, counters a constructive effect, simulating the power and fragility in our ecosystem. This balance raises a question about our interaction with the earth. Is our relationship with our environment symbiotic or parasitic?
