The show features the work of 15 different artists: Svetlana Bailey, Jennifer R. Campbell, Angela Cappetta, Paola Martinez Fiterre, Heather Goodwind, Tatana Kellner, Aleksandra Stone, Emily Blair Quinn, Phoebe Quin Kong, Rosemary MezaDesPlas, Alfa Rós Pétursdóttir, Lauren Redding, Val Sivili, Shamona Stokes, Suzanne Unrein, Shihori Yamamoto.
I’m excited to be included in this group exhibition at Pen + Brush in New York City. I will have two paintings and two sculptures on site, and one of each in the show.
Bodies, Bodies, Bodies: Raffish Vulnerability and Profane Ambivalence opens on June 15th and runs through August 26th.
“Artists in the exhibition pull back the veil on submission, loss, desire, vulnerability, and the body’s ability to symbolize actualities about the turbulent human experience.”
Pen + Brush Tuesday-Saturday 12pm to 6pm 29 East 22nd Street (between Broadway and Park Avenue South) (212) 475-3669
I have an exhibition at Asian Art Platform in Singapore until March 24th. It’s a really fun show because it has a large range of works on paper dated from 2017 all the way back to 2002 when I made my first Moleskine book. If anyone is in the area please stop by!
Asian Art Platform 120 Lower Delta, #08-01/02 Cendex Centre, 169208 Monday – Saturday 10 am to 5 pm info@asianartplatform.com
Also, since my last post I’ve created three new series of paintings, all of which are viewable on my portfolio website.
Series 33 has 10 each tiny little 5×7 inch paintings – the series was a test to see if I would enjoy working on a new type of poly/cotton blend canvas that is pre-primed with a very smooth, very white surface. This photo shows two of them stretched and framed, sitting on my easel:
two works from series 33
Series 35 has 30 each 16×20 inch paintings on the same poly/cotton canvas as Series 33. This photo shows Series 35 #1 stretched and framed, sitting on the my easel:
series 35 #1
Series 34 has 13 each 30×40 inch paintings on my favorite heavy duty #10 cotton duck canvas, primed with clear gesso. I painted these larger works stretched on 1.5 inch thick bars (I usually work on smaller paintings flat). This photo shows photographer Mario Gallucci during the documentation process:
In other news, I’ve decided to make paintings available for purchase on my website as flat canvases, which will ship rolled in a tube. They can still be purchased ready-to-hang on Saatchi Art, and the prices reflect that difference.
Having a flat canvas stretched on bars at a local frame shop should cost a lot less than having me stretch it here (or having me take it to my local frame shop to be stretched). It also provides an opportunity to choose a custom frame instead of a minimal gallery wrap, which can make the art acquisition experience both more personal and more fun.
Un-stretched canvases can be purchased directly from my website using a computer or tablet (the purchasing option is not yet available on mobile). Click on an image to enlarge the work and if it is still available there will be purchasing options. The price includes shipping rolled in a tube, and the payment is handled through Paypal.
enlarged view of series 32 #46 on my website with purchasing options
I just finished Series 32, which has fifty each 16×20 inch paintings on canvas. Putting a new series online is like having an exhibition – it feels exciting and revelatory, but it’s usually anticlimatic because the real thrill of painting is in the process.
I start my paintings with a random mark and then improvise the rest, so I never know what the end result will be. The following images are first marks paired with final paintings in Series 32. The first image is taken with my phone camera in whatever light was available at the time, and the second is a high quality scan – you can really tell the difference in the way it picks up the color and texture of the canvas (I used clear gesso on these).
I’ve finished 31 (of 50) paintings in Series #32. They are 16×20 inches on canvas primed with clear gesso, and I’m working on them stretched on boards. I will put them all on my portfolio website as soon as the rest are completed and scanned, but here is a sneak peek at a few of my favorites:
SirenFertility GoddessArtemisto be titled, for some reason this one seems to repel words…Orpheus and Eurydiceto be titled – the leading candidates so far are Saint Helena and Exile…
I was interviewed by Kendra and Ashley of Art Gab – we talked about art as a process of self-discovery, doubt as a superpower, and my pandemic obsession with streaming opera from the Met.
Anna Netrebko in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor on the lower shelf of my easel…
*edit 07/24/21* The Etsy experiment is over and I will only post works there by request. I will continue to post new works for sale in my Saatchi Art shop.
I’m experimenting with selling new small works in my Etsy shop. I’ve posted 20 each 8×10 inch paintings from Series 31, which is still in progress with 20 more canvases that I hope to finish by the beginning of 2021.
I paint these stretched on board with masking tape, then store them in an archival box with layers of interleaving paper, just like I did with Series 30. These ones are smaller in size, and the canvas I’m using is pre-primed with absorbent ground gesso. The smooth, absorbent surface takes the paint in a way that is similar to watercolor paper – and this has had a dramatic effect on the final outcome of the paintings. Here are some examples of the watercolor like effect:
And here are some examples of what the paintings look like once they are stretched and framed:
I just added four new series (67 works in total!) to my portfolio website.
Series 30 has 50 each 16×20 inch works on canvas. These were all stretched on board with masking tape and bulldog clips for painting, and are now stored in an archival box with PH-neutral interleaving paper. The image quality on these is amazing because I documented them with a flatbed scanner. I’ve also started posting them for sale in my online store, and will continue to upload new ones over the next couple of months. This is what they look like once they are stretched and framed:
Series 29 has five each 4×6 foot canvases. The photos don’t do justice to the originals because I had to provisionally document them with my phone camera, but I will have them properly documented by my favorite local professional photographer as soon as it is safe to do so. I also made a time-lapse video of Series 29 #1.
Series 28 was a big commission for the lobby of a residential apartment building on the Upper West Side in Manhattan. There are two paintings in total, though one is a triptych (made up of three canvases hung close together as a group). I hope to have installation photos in the near future, and will do a full post on the commission then.
Series 27 was a fun commission of six small works for a private collector. They sent me their favorite images of my existing works and a very loose set of parameters: a size, a substrate, and a desire to see something recognizable in each image (ie: not pure abstraction), along with the words “minimal”, “colorful”, and “whimsical”. I otherwise had complete freedom, and made ten new works from which they could choose six for the commission.
These are the images of my existing artworks they wanted the new works to emulate:
With my 2020 exhibition and residency plans cancelled or indefinitely postponed, and my storage area overflowing with completed 4×6 foot canvases from my 2018-19 grant year with the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, I abandoned my plan of continuing to work large scale and decided to paint on small canvases. It was a hard decision to make because I was just starting to feel comfortable with my new larger-than-life substrates, but it was the right thing to do. My single most important goal as an artist is to Always Be Working, and this has allowed me to stay engaged and productive.
I stretch the canvas onto boards with tape and bulldog clips, carefully measuring the painting surface so it can be re-stretched on 16×20 inch bars later. When I complete a painting, I sign it, isolation coat it, remove it from the board, and store it in an archival box with a layer of glassine between each work.
stretched on board
works in progress
archival storage box
It’s very similar to my process of working on paper, and even to my early process of working in Moleskine books, not only because of the size and the documentarian aspect, but also because I’m using clear gesso, which leaves a lovely cream colored background from which I can brighten with white. I also decided to sign them like the works on paper, with only my initials on the front, because of their small size.
My plan is to do a series of at least 50 canvases by the end of 2020, then scan or professionally photograph them so they can be added to both my portfolio website and my online store. Depending on how the year progresses, I may do another series of them in 2021.
