Clounds And Waves
The Clouds and Waves paintings are based on computer assisted abstractions of sky and water. The final pieces have, however, been produced in a very tactile manner: digital composites, woven tapestries as well as carved, painted wood.
Eastern Gap
Originally concieved in 2019, this piece was not installed until the fall of 2020. It is a large wall mural relief that adorns the lobby of a condominum in Toronto.
‘Eastern Gap’ refers to one of the harbour entrances in Toronto that connects the inner harbour to Lake Ontario. The artwork is based on a photograph of waves taken at this location. It’s an abstracted relief sculpture. The light and dark areas in the photograph have been used to generate curved geometry. Light areas are higher and dark ones are lower.
Thin gaps cut through the structure in a regular grid which contrasts with the sinewy curves of the water geometry. The gaps could be interpreted as a map or city grid overlaying the contours of a landscape.
Mixed Media Paintings
The subject matter of these paintings is restricted to clouds and waves but they are rendered in a variety of media within each piece. The materials include carved and painted wood, digital printing, woven fabric, and 3D printed elements.
Library of Babel - 34" x 12" Jacquard tapestry, digital composite print and 3D printed insert
Near to Shore - 42" x 24" Jacquard tapestry and painted wood relief
Representational painting depicts two things. First, there's a subject: the illusionary image behind the surface. Second, there's the craft: the materials and markings on the surface.
But have you noticed that you can't see these two things at the same time? Either you see the subject - the illusion of the image, or you see the traces of making. Your mind must flip back and forth.
I'm interested in this threshold. The point of crossing over from subject to material is what I've focused on in this new series.
Over Fields - 42" x 24" Jacquard tapestry and painted wood relief
Quicksilver 54" x 31" Jacquard tapestry and painted wood relief
I had it for a moment - 54" x 31" Jacquard tapestry and painted wood relief
From Sky to Sky 44" x 12" Jacquard tapestry, painted wood relief and digital prints
From Sky to Sky Detail. Jacquard tapestry, painted wood relief and digital prints
Wide Open Detail. Jacquard tapestry, painted wood relief and digital prints
Wide Open 44" x 12" Jacquard tapestry, painted wood relief and digital prints
Jacquard Tapestry
Sections of these ‘paintings’ are woven tapestries. The images are not printed on fabric, rather a computer controls the arrangement of coloured threads in a weaving loom so that the images become an integral part of the material.
Only from a distance are the images visible. On close inspection, the abstracted vertical lines dominate. Closer still, and the pattern of the woven material is what you see.
Engraved Wood
On the painted sections you will notice that there are graphic elements: lines and hatch patterns, engraved into the surface. A translucent glaze has been pushed into the grooves which causes the surface to shift and glimmer in changing light.
Abstraction and tracing of photos of water and clouds were the source of the geometry. The resulting shapes have been used to guide a laser cutter that engraved the patterns in Baltic birch plywood - the substrate of the paintings.
As with the fabric sections, the subject matter of clouds and waves is best seen at a distance. Up close, the image breaks apart into abstract shapes and the physical qualities of the surface.
The Experience
I hope that these pieces will give you a glimpse of yourself seeing, the opportunity to see the moment when your perception shifts between seeing the surface and seeing the illusion of the clouds and waves. Normally we are not conscious of this action, but how we ‘see’ the world is largely a projection of our ideas and preconceptions.
Invisible Harbour - 34" x 12" Jacquard tapestry, carved and painted wood and 3D printed insert
