Experimenting with creating inkblots on rice paper I inadvertently blotted two sheets at once, which I had not realized were stuck together, and thus created modules that could then be arranged, side-by-side, in a symmetrical composition. After then stacking several sheets and soaking inkblots through that whole stack, I was able to create multiple modules that could then be arranged as repeated symmetrical compositions. My first attempt at this was to orient the arrangement of sheets as a vertical format and my interest was to paint imagery of a “jacked” Jesus Christ, as a boxer, defiant atop a heap of defeated figures. This pre-conceived plan to depict this character had been a recurring and current motif as of late, but imposing it or forming it from within the symmetrical almost “tie-dyed” patterns and shapes of my rice paper blots shortly brought to my mind an association with the Shroud of Turin, which I imagined to have had a related “tie-dyed” symmetry and patterning to it.
Process views of "Takeover" 54" x 24" Ink, gouache on paper 2022.
Thus the “Shroud” motif was conceived. For this series I considered ideas of: a vintage cloth that has endured many centuries of staining while formed in a folded state, a sacred or important body that has left its imprint on a surface or fabric, an object that holds importance to believers. As an artist my strongest attraction would be to the process of creating the patterns through a layering of media and then drawing out imagery from within the complex and symmetrical shapes that emerge. Underlying my choice of imagery would be figures that suggest power, reverence or leadership. Within the picture building process might be added other figures that might have a relationship to the primary figure.
Process views of "Defeat" 54" x 24" Ink, gouache on paper 2022.
For the Shroud Cycle I would create themed groupings of "ink blot" based pieces. Each group would fit an exhibition venue. “Who is My Avatar?” at the Cyr Gallery of the Bangor Public Library, would explore vertical compositions of primary figures. “Let There Be War” at Zoot Coffee would include wide panoramic arrangements of horizontally reflected patterns that suggest the theater of battle. “Why Are We Here?” at Cynthia Winings Gallery's cathedral-like second floor barn space would consist of a hanging Jacob’s Ladder contraption whose design would be loosely proportionate to the Shroud of Turin, which consists of one long fabric panel that originally shrouded a body from toe to head, continuous over the top of the head and back down behind the body, ending at the body’s heels. “O Earth” at the Sohns Gallery would consider the suggestion of the earth as a final resting place or a current repository for an endless array of human made structures or waste products.
