Phrenological Self Portrait 48"x48" Oil on canvas. 1999
This piece was done while in Graduate school and is a phrenological map of my mind. I've included it here because it initiated my process of developing discreet parts of a work into a whole. Each element of my head was individually conceived as a response to the attribute asscociated with that region. They were started and completed before moving onto the next section so the painting is an assembly of its parts; a map constructed and built like architecture or sculpture. This method of self analysis through dissection and reconstruction has also been a recurrent focus of my recent work. Click here for a larger view.
Army48"x48" Acrylic on cardboard with velcro on felt panel. 1999
The process of building this piece using cutouts of arms became very much an endurance test for me. It challenged my imagination to continue to find new and interesting poses and props. Once again the result is a transformation of parts into a whole. The narrative in this case being as much the way the piece is made as it is the gestures and attributes of the figurative elements. Click here for a larger view.
Lust48"x48" Acrylic on cardboard with acrylic on mounted canvas. 1999
With this piece I transformed the cutouts into an articulated figurative mobile. My barbaric surrogate is entranced as six women dance and twist around him. The painting takes its cue from animated cartoons as pieces slowly twist and move around in front of a static background. It's a condensation of many of the persistent concerns of my later work; the extension of painting beyond the two-dimensional and beyond the temporally static. Click here for a larger view.
Paper Doll18" Tall. Acrylic on cardboard with wood and velcro. 1999
Out of the Army and Lust ideas came this piece exploring the role of poses and props in the development of narrative. It also expands on the interactivity of Army and branches further out into freestanding figurative sculpture while standing firmly in the realm of narrative painting. Click here for a larger view.
Stairway16"x14" Oil on canvas. 1999
After focusing on the figure for the Paper Doll, I thought it might be interesting to remove the 'hero' or protagonist from the adventure and just show the setting. I swiped panels from comicbooks, removed all characters and developed the setting alone. While at graduate school I saw many of my peers being encouraged to distill their work down to the essentials. Sadly, many of the contentious and interesting parts of the work went out as well. So the challenge here was to follow that model and still make an engaging painting. This painting is in the collection of Amy Albracht, Brooklyn, NY. Click here for a larger view.
Ship 16"x14" Oil on canvas. 1999
The same approach as Stairway was applied here as well. With this painting, however, I began to consider the possibility of treating them like animation backgrounds. Is there some way I can have figurative elements that I can attach to the painting, that would fit within their setting and still have freedom of placement? How would they stick? This is a problem that I would eventually work out in later works such as The Bride and Cyborg and PRDS. This painting was given as a gift only to be destroyed in 2002. Click here for a larger view.
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