My work is fundamentally abstract in that I rarely start a piece wanting to represent a particular object or idea. Instead my central theme is the interaction between improvisation and control; rapid, intuitive interventions; fortuitous events alternating with processes of reflection and selection. I find that printmaking -- and, even more so, digital printmaking -- with their hundreds of ways of recording "happy accidents" for further manipulation, are by nature perfectly suited to this kind of work. Moreover, the interplay between a matrix freely executed and a careful printing process is of great importance to me. I am particularly interested by motifs, traces and complex textures formed at random, whether it be by nature, by the vestiges of civilization, or by my intervention; and by automatic and gestural marks.
In the last couple years I have moved from traditional printmaking to digital printmaking, inspired by what seems to me a personal ideal solution to the problem of archivality (permanence) versus spontaneity. The combination of working very freely in diverse media -- with the possibility of breaking or disregarding "all the rules" -- with a process of winnowing, editing and composing (benefitting from the computer’s versatility and ease in dealing with, e.g., cutting, collaging and layering) allows me to retain the naturalness and spontaneity of my gestural marks and textures while producing a final, permanent digital work. The "raw material" produced by traditional means (drawing, printmaking, painting, patinas on metal) become my matrices and the computer my printing press, where I assemble the component pieces into a finished work.
My current cycle of work consists of imaginary representations of the abstract beauty of purely conceptual constructs such as mathematical functions or equations. In these prints, I question the boundaries between such diverse disciplines as mathematics and printmaking, and put forth a playful personal translation between them.
As can be seen in the 2002 room, my initial approach to this idea were abstract paintings that offered my projection onto paint of some hypothetical, mystical, mind’s eye view of various abstract concepts. I favor diptychs and inset panels as symbolic of two (or more) very different – or rather, different-seeming – views of “the same thing”.
In 2003-4 I have been deepening my process by returning to my roots as scientist and admirer of mathematics, embarking on a long-term two-fold path of, on the one side, studies in various mathematical topics, and on the other side, art work inspired -- or, in part, directly created -- by these studies. Some of these topics are chosen for the abstract interest of their inner workings; others for their more direct potential as tools to create interesting lines, figures and textures.
Currently, my graphical elements include the scrawled calligraphy of mathematical derivations, roughly worked out on scraps of paper; the fractally rich patterns that I create using simple patina agents on metal; meditative, gestural, automatic ink-on-paper painting; small, enlarged, textural snippets of previous traditional prints and paintings; imagery created with mathematics; and, over all, a fascination for magnification and mixed scales.
The 'Messages', my 2001 series, are characterized by:
- their calligraphic, symbolic, almost written forms -- in an alphabet, or rather, a pictographic language, which is unknown, personal and involuntary -- translating messages coming from my unconscious;
- their interplay of plates cut up and juxtaposed, marrying various textures and printmaking techniques;
- chinese calligraphy as one of my inspirations, as much for its abstract symbolism and for the graphic force of its characters in its many stylistic variations, as for the vigor and individuality of each trait;
- my exploration of the intensive re-utilisation of plates, and the fascination I have for the resulting evolution of the printed image. Each of the 'Messages' incorporates plates already used -- scraped, gouged, reworked, cut into pieces. I find that a already worked plate is a more inspiring starting point than a blank plate, and the concepts of connection and evolution in the resulting work are essential for me.