2010 was a year of building and transformation in the studio space housed within the Tai Chi Center of Chicago. Writing this on a dreary day in Chicago, Christmas trees fly by strapped to suv's. It is still kind of warm and I am hoping for some snow to transform the gray and make things magical. Reflecting on the year it is with a strong recollection of the seasons each one long definitive, quintessential, personal.
I felt closely aligned to the seasons in my studio practice as well. In the early winter months I produced nothing of significance; at least I thought. My mind and pencil flitted from one idea to the next losing interest and momentum. I reached for another set of tools, carved, drilled and hammered with the same result. I made some preliminary sketches for an installation and filed those away. At the very edge of winter up against spring, I produced a drawing, an exciting, fragile, hopeful little thing that took me by surprise. I had initially sat down with the sole purpose to make an intricate drawing that would hold my attention and help calm the mind. One drawing spun off the next, spring through summer and into fall. As we approach the first full day of winter, these drawings are still going, vibrating in a slightly different manner.
Things that Sting are a series of dense and tightly knit drawings that emphasis structure, repetition and random patterning. Different values or intensities of graphite line build a scaffold that hold an ethereal, yet pulsating and unsettling mass together.
Along with the drawings I am in the process of editing a little film piece shot in b&w and on 16mm film. During the summer filmmaker and friend Eric Stewart and I took to some Chicago rooftops and back yards to film bees. Stay tuned as I am very excited to see in which way we individually choose to transform the footage. Until then, you can go to Luminous / Shadow Project for a little tease!
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