Culture Control

Pen, Marker, Colored Pencil

I took on another piece that has similar style with an organized approach to a very recent piece I finished named A Map of the Mind. Although the subject is quite different, I have again slowed down my undertaking of material to creating a piece by thorough planning. I chose a wide selection of symbols that most people can identify and have their own connections whether positive or negative. Some of these maybe very apparent and others maybe very subtle and take multiple glances to find. This piece is not meant to be either positive or negative, but moreover to portray my take on the current culture we live in.

I also wanted to build this piece symmetrical to some degree, although in its entirety it is not. This is to reflect how we see and feel our culture appearing balanced, but in many ways it will never be so.

I do greatly enjoy these frozen moments that do not exist anywhere, but in the thoughts that come together as they network themselves. I plan to explore this style further and hope in time I am able to create more depth and intricacies. Subject matter maybe evolving as various symbols and ideas come to light in groups or independently.

Arrival to New England

I have arrived back in New England and of course began reflecting upon our travels across the country. I utilize the written word as well as the my hand in creating a few pieces and have much more in the works. I have continued to explore many different mediums and feel as though I am beginning to understand a few of them much better. 

The Werkin' Man

newspaper canvas, block print, acrylic paint

This is a rework of a piece that I finished a few years ago. One of the best reasons for using block print is to be able to reprint and even re-imagine pieces. I had left the original piece with a friend in trade of his hospitably when we were traveling on the road. I came back to creating a canvas as I did with the original piece out of layered newsprint done in a similar fashion to paper mache. I used the business section of many Chinese newspapers to reflect the basis of America's work force dependent on an unfamiliar language and economy. I originally had this piece finished in black and white, but came back to reanimate the subject as I saw his facial features craving color. I chose a palate that would suffice and appear as cartoonish to parallel my humorous take on working.

A Map of the Mind

pen, colored pencil

I began this work due to research for a new tattoo that may one day materialize. I sat down and began putting elements that had many meaning to what it takes to have mental understanding. In the past I have not been so patient as I have with this piece, but I found precision and attention can create a very organized and organic piece at the same time. I am further investigating this style that I stumbled upon. Although there are many allusions found in this piece I will touch on a few that I find strongest. The crown found on the upper portion of the middle is to resemble our loyalty to oneself. The key and key hole just below it to resemble the locked portion of our subconscious and how we may have the key, but sometimes lack the knowledge to unlocking that realm. The compass found at the bottom is to express the directions that our mind is constantly moving in, sometimes measurable and sometimes not. Of course the viewer is welcome to dive deeper and find their personal meanings to many more of the elements found in the work.

The Thirty-Somethings

watercolor, block print

I carved this piece with no intention of further development and it sat dormant in my stack of material for sometime. I enjoy the meticulous execution of block print and further enjoy the results that one obtains but translating a sketch into a negative carving so I sometimes create in hopes that the future may find a finished product. The two figures stared out from my pile one day and I was uncomfortable with their stare and felt as though they awaited completion. I painted a dynamic wallpaper to be their backdrop to rival interest over the figures and in a way it becomes just as interesting and beautiful as they may be. I allow the viewer to develop their own back stories and reasoning for posture in the two figures.

Winter's Haven

In the winter of 2012-2013 I was stationed in a very remote location with very limited supplies for seven months. I was surrounded by wilderness and monumental heights of snow. Although most of my time was spent working, I was able to cross country ski a great deal, practice yoga, and create many art pieces. Most of the work started as studies of various materials, but as I moved through the process of execution I began to develop the them into finished work. The following is the collection of work I did while hunkered down atop the Yellowstone caldera for that time period in chronological order. Many of these pieces have found themselves onto the walls of people's homes that have helped us on our return trip back east.

(click on the image for a larger view)

Study of Flight.     collage

Neon Pick.     collage

Untitled.     collage, watercolor, pen

Wolf Moon.     collage

Nature's Music is Calling.     collage

Alley.     watercolor, pen

Season's Colors.     acrylic

"There's a lot of stars out there tonight, Terrace".     pen, watercolor, collage

First World, Third World.     collage

Blustery.     watercolor

Push.     acrylic

Personal Cosmos.     acrylic

Untitled.     watercolor, pen

Beach Side Art Exercise

I visited a friend of mine in northern Oregon and we decided to wander the coast for a weekend. Upon a windy and quiet day we all decided to exercise our artistic minds for an afternoon. The objective was to use only found items that were either discarded by the ocean, people, or nature. From the get go the possibilities seemed rather scarce, but as time went on and ideas emerged our pieces grew with meaning and beauty. These pieces were not entirely created to stun or impress, but to reveal some beauty to the creative process and what can be achieved in art with such a minimal amount of material.

The first piece I derived was rather simple. Yes, I understand this example is just a pile of rocks. But in searching out simular shapes, colors, and sizes I obviously discarded many others. As I wandered the beachside, I chose these particular ones over all others. I felt a bit guilty in doing so as all rocks are just rocks and all rocks deserve a chance to be in a exclusive pile. I may have been thinking a bit too deeply about the situation, but I saw parallel ties to modern civilization.

The next piece I put together was an attempt to reorganize the driftwood that was found at an invisible line formed by high tide. This unorganized stretch of material was unpleasing to the eye and I found it fit to organize a small section creating a shrine-like ode to the entrance of the great ocean. The smallest sticks are the closest to the ocean and the photo is taken from just before the ocean meets the beach.

As I wandered and wandered looking for materials I kept passing these massive stumps that had been cut by humans using a chain saw. I was unsure to where they came from, but began to roll them out to the large area of the beach between the water and the bluff; the place where desolation lies in between the two worlds of land and sea. It took a great deal of time and a great deal of effort to get the stumps all together, lift them onto each other, and rotated them to maintain a strong balance. All together the piece is about 8 feet high. The final stage of the piece came much later in the day when high tide rose and slowly swallowed the pilar possibly dismembering the piece, but also possibly leaving it strong and sturdy for some days more. 

Art is everywhere and beauty can be found in the simplest of stone.

A Man, A Fox

The terrain around us is covered in a vast coat of white, blue, and, depending on the sun's mood, yellow-red-purple-.... A little creature darts along the crusty snow in search of scraps and a warm spot to rest. The wise and cunning fox is member of the season, not an intruder, not a enemy.

In the coming months of Spring diving into the warmth of Summer I will be once again emerged into color, music, and inspiration. Included in that is the connection - the communities - that derive in various festivals, gatherings, and, the simplest, parties. Once amidst, I wanted to portray a spirit that we as people may not understand and one I do not as well. But behind the mask of such a spirit, I can believe. I can entertain. I can become something I am not and enjoy the vacation from the human spirit. I have created this mask for such events. 

About three weeks took over all of my artistic energy. That time comprised of diligent layers followed by sanding and then frustrating and minute painting. I have never used paper mache before [once while in the third grade... and it was a very educational time while I worked with it. I will complete the piece with some feathers that I must surely find in the forests and a very nice ribbon to hold the window fast upon my face.

I am also currently working on one for my wonderful and inspirational partner in life.

Bandit

We have placed ourselves in the heart of Yellowstone in Wyoming during the winter. Although many have warned about the remoteness and so on, I have done nothing, but enjoy the time being removed from the life that we find so common in the country. There has been a bit of a challenge in making and creating ideas through word and art, but the challenge has merely opened many doors.

During the renovation of the Lake Hotel there was a portion of a door removed and set aside as it had various names and dates on the back. I was staring at the plank one day and an image appeared upon just as it was always there. Later that day I took the plank and painted what I saw using a new material to me - watercolor. Before the paint was even dry the plank was hanging just above where it lay that morning.

Quite a back story was created as I painted the image; there can be many more as well, but as I painted the Bandit's story emerged: Years before the painting the Bandit was a father and a husband. He had three children on the mountain side above a small town in the Texas-Mexico boarder. It was a time that the border was still in dispute and a militia of Americans took to the town thinking them all of Mexicans and would have none of it. The Bandit was not concerned with with either nation and let the militia know that. Due to this his family fell slain to the gun as he was forced to watch. He broke free as they lit his house a fire and he has been on the trail ever since. He does not seek vengeance and he does not seek forgiveness. Now he seeks to spread the evil that was so forced upon him.

Ode to Winter

I've always wanted to keep my writing hidden in books until some great unveiling much later on in life. But as I rework and digitize pieces I realize I want some of these to be read, to be shared, to be discussed, to be thought about, to be loved, and to be hated. I have worked years and years on countless pieces from haiku poetry, to prose, to short stories, to vignettes, to novels, and so on.

For the first piece that I will share with the abyss that is public I have chosen a lighter piece about the season that is upon certain regions of this globe. I find it quite fitting as this year will be the first time away from the daunting New England winter, but nonetheless, I am very much immersed in the season elsewhere. Either way I present:

Ode to Winter

That gloomy beautiful New England season peers over blue mountain tops

and the inevitable crush follows in the coming weeks

When the trees shroud bare

Revealing naked earth unbound by colors of spring

Black and white newsprint swallows the slow world of cold giants

And out of scraggily branches sulk iced telephone lines

Above tree tops the gray clouds hover

The ceiling of life sways in the shallow sky

In the brief moments of their absence

Dull yellow rays move across vast planes for an afternoon

The sun trembles with long bleak shadows securing a shortened presence

Ice caked forest and frozen concrete shimmers in the wavering light

And when the mysticism of warmth moves to another world’s summer

The stars that have been painted above for centuries glint in the chilled air

The winter man’s eye beholds such glistening diamonds

Puffs rise out of brick steeples in the blanketed lands beyond white hills

Dotting cozy caves glowing in the valleys under pine

In the silence of it all you can hear the mountains and sky breath into the wind

The exhalations lonely roams ever so daunting

The tension of the moon elongates the matter

As friendships briefly fade for the season

And backyard towns spark only memories in our minds

The dim kitchen light warms our bellies

With a hazy evenings wait providing flavorful bowls

The travels through hallways and stairways of our home

Has come to reflect the captivity with ill-faded colors

The walls seemingly set in fog

Sunsets are photographed through frosted window panes

And the following alien nights creak the wooden skeleton in the dry wind

A loving soul lies besides through Hecate’s deepest hours

Only to awake in a false summer’s warmth

Arising with soar joints to stand upon cold floorboards

We stretch our minds to embrace

The crystal crunch we humbly enjoy

Boxed Hose

A second piece from creative ingenuity in the uprooted nature of my journey. Being mobile has its restrictions in many different ways and not having a focal art studio is one of them. I am learning to allow the studio to become everything that is around me, freeing myself from returning to a specific location with inspiration. I am allowing the inspiration to transpire anywhere and come to light in a place that sees fit. These travels have allowed for a vast art playground instead of a concrete art studio.

I did not feel as though I wanted another piece to be morphed by the materials I found. This time around I wanted a loose idea to be achieved with what materials that I more or less searched for. The summer was spent (like most of America) in a dry, dry realm. Being in Montana and witnessing the pressing concern of water usage, I shared the concern with many. In most parts of the state water is scarce already and a vast network of ditches and water redirects stitch along the fields.

This piece is to represent the confines we find ourselves with the dependency on water. The box can represent the controls of man with their reincarnations of organic water control found inside. They seem to never end and continuously weave back and forth benefiting man's endeavors only. The hose end out at the bottom of the piece represents our stale connection to nature's water needs and the amount we leave it with.

All in all this is a dismal and piece with subtle beauty. I am attempting to plainly state concern with this piece and may offer opinionated solutions found in discussion. This piece will remain on location at the farm we shared such wonderful experiences at. 

Creature From the Deep

The roots from beneath my feet in New England has gladly been pulled and I am now mobile across the great USA. The first stop on an adventure in search of inspiration, relationships, and knowledge is the great state of Montana. For the summer the old VW Westfalia, myself, and my fiance are stationed on a farm in a very small town just north of Bozeman. We find ourselves surrounded by musicians, artists, writers, and wonderful thinkers. It is hard not to visualize art, write endlessly, and morph ideas over and over in such an atmosphere.

The group we are with pushes to have an art project done every few weeks or so. This entails only found objects incorporated into any way seen fit. There is no medium restrictions, there is no size restrictions, and there are no subject restrictions. After scouring the fields and piles of rusty metal a being from the depths of my mind and reflective of those found in the depths of the ocean emerged. Most of the material I found began to play off each other as I conjured ways to construct the pieces together to achieve what I was looking for:

In the end this piece is a study of my imagination and my handy work. I greatly enjoy working with found items or recycled materials, but I then to restrict what I believe I can do. Working with these metals and bolts and wire is a new material that I greatly enjoyed and look forward to pursuing further. 

Guatemala in Black & White

The the winter of 2011 my girlfriend and I traveled to Guatemala. Our  adventure was to set out of Gautemala City upon arrival and return when our flight was to bring us home 14 days later. Everything in between was unplanned and loosely decided upon. Our intention was to see the Central American country with as much face value as possible. Granted we were white American tourist, but we delved as deep as we could.


I brought along my Minolta 35mm SLR camera and eight rolls of Black & White 400iso film. I set out to capture the country as I saw it. My sight was drawn to several aspects of the land, the people, the animals, and the architecture. I tried having my camera closely follow behind and snap at what I was intrigued by. We saw a lot of towns and we met a lot of characters and we wandered through the robust landscape. I attempted to limit the editing done on most photos. The following is how I saw the beautiful country of Guatemala.

The Hive

I recently viewed a documentary titled Rivers and Tides featuring the artist Andrew Goldsworthy. He is wonderful artist to watch and listen to. He discusses his process and his motivation in a way that I found very insightful and agreed with on many levels. After taking in the film and letting his ideas rattle around it my mind for awhile I felt as though I needed to attempt a piece similar to his. By no means is it on the level he takes his work to, but I found joy and interest in working on the Hive on the Winooski River in Vermont.

(click on images for a larger view)

My younger sister was visiting Vermont when we took on the project. We had a expansive array of material due to the flooding rivers of this past year's hurricane season. We dealt only with natural pieces of wood and wood that was uncut by human hands. The base measured about 10-11 feet in diameter and it reached up to around 7-8 feet tall. It took about 6 hours to build from when we stepped onto the site till we left for a well deserved beer. The structure stood for about four weeks until one day it vanished entirely. Being composed a few hundred feet from a large dam, this was no surprise. In this world most natural structures (whether man-made or naturally-made) are destroyed or altered by industry at some point or another.


The concept was to organically organize a large collection of a very similar sized and textured material. We wanted to avoid a set shape and allow the wood to interact together as we placed piece by piece. In a way, we wanted this interaction to create the final shape and size. It finally took on the shape of a beehive, in which the name is derived from. We grew attached to the material and began to really understand how certain bends and notches would interact with others. The wood gave us clues on how it would work best within the means of itself. If it wasn't for our perception of these clues the structure may not have held as strong for as long as it did.

All photos are shot on 35mm Black and White film via a 1981 Minolta X-700 SLR (thanks to my mother).

Big Business Reigns

I was scribbling away in my sketchbook one day awhile back and came up with an interesting silhouetted icon. The icon was that of a faceless business man. As I biked around the city in years past I always felt the sidewalks were flooded by these faceless business men trooping along in the morning and evening, sometimes for lunch break or maybe a meeting. No individual ever stood out to me, but they all wore pretty much the same thing and blended together. The idea swirled around in my head and I came up with a pretty simple and sharp icon. It became the inspiration for this piece and actually the smallest part of the whole thing (the lower two rows).


In the grand scheme of the piece I wanted to portray the looming monster that has taken over most of our small towns and the identities of our beloved cities. That monster is corporate, global expansion, a Starbucks on every corner, the same city stenciled over and over- that monster is big business. A faceless expanding mob that has destroyed the way we interact with our needs, desires, and forward progress as individuals. It has eaten up our small business and local cultures and packages up new technologies that must conveniently change every 6-8 months. The main figure in the piece can be seen as small business, it can be seen as the viewer, or even the country from years past.


I find the process/medium that I have been exploring lately very fascinating. I greatly enjoy the way that art can still hang on the way, but jump out of the 2D playing field. It is a great way to have the viewer move their eyes not just across the piece, but into the piece and around the shadows. I believe that a true moment in time can be captured into the medium. A statement is made and comes at you and your view moves into it and around it. I believe I will move forward with this medium and explore different options deeper.

Made out of hand-cut wood, spray paint, colored pencil, sharpie and ball point pen.