Wounded Knee

I am currently finishing up a couple of paintings on memory and how much circumstance plays a role in the recording of "facts." I am using the raven metaphorically to suggest the difference between two paintings on a visit my sister and I made to Wounded Knee in 2004.

In the painting I use text to recall the events as they unfolded that evening and how they have played a role in my appreciation for that place and the resistance of those that live on the reservation there. Many people might say that Wounded Knee has two histories, one in 1890 when the band of Lakota following Sitting Bull's brother, Big Foot, were massacred by soldiers under the command of Colonel James W. Forsyth. Another happened when members of the American Indian Movement held off federal forces for 71 days in 1973 . I say the history of that place is a continuous one that runs uninterrupted through the present day; an embarrassing one of religion, culture, government, and money. My experience there is one of a drive through desperate poverty in the middle of the American heartland overlooked and unnoticed by many.


Of particular notice for me was the graffiti on the gate to the small chapel on the hill where someone expressed their loss and remembrance of those held dear to them. A subtle but poignant note from a person searching for a voice that will carry in the winds of South Dakota.

The place stood in sharp contrast for me to the Little Bighorn memorial in Montana, which I visited earlier that summer on my way to the studio in North Dakota. Although the "the Custer Battlefield" shared the raw history and timelessness of the prairie the headstones, sidewalks, gift shops, and visitors were quite different from that faded blue-green sign that insufficiently tells the tale of Wounded Knee.

The sketch

I have always been interested in the sketches of the masters- da Vinci, Michelangelo, it didn't matter; I found the raw idea very interesting, perhaps even more interesting than their finished paintings. A sketch carries a sense of freshness, an urgency or a moment in time unencumbered by refinement and rethinking. In many ways there is a purity in a sketch that is difficult to express in a finished painting. I beleive that same freshness is much the same feeling the German expressionists like those in the Blaue Reiter and Die Brücke tried to present in their work. Naturally context for painting has changed from Europe between the wars as has the subject matter but the essence- human emotion, response, and discourse has not.

In my work I try to reverse the painting process, so to speak. You see, it is my understanding that paintings usually begin on a piece of scratch paper, on a napkin, or in a sketchbook somewhere. Then it is refined, edited, paired down to simplest terms, and put onto canvas in paint or collage or whatever. I do this too, but in my work the painting usually begins with the idea written into my sketchbook and several sketches added of how the idea may be represented visually or metaphorically. Following this I collect additional material like newspaper articles or research on the subject to flesh the idea out a bit more. Then I set up some problems to be solved on the canvas like the devision of space, relationship of the elements, ect. by painting a few of them on the canvas then adding or reducing as need be. Lastly I try to add once again the sketch right out of my sketchbook onto the top "layer" of my painting. An example of this may be "Repetitive Pump in Purple". In a way I want to invert a painting so others can see the process the idea goes through in the work. I hope this last sketch carries the freshness or urgency of the original idea in some way.

The Raven

In Norse mythology Odin has two pet ravens: Hugin and Munin- thought and memory accordingly. Each day they leave Odin and return from "Midgard," (literal meaning: middle enclosure) the mortal realm. The only historic pictures I've found of this show Hugin (thought) on Odin's right shoulder facing him and Munin (memory) on his right.

The Quran tells of a raven teaching Cain how to bury Abel and Native American traditions from the pacific northwest see the raven as both a creator and a "trickster" god.

The cross cultural significance of the raven is quite amazing but I find the Norse representation as the most interesting mostly for the news or information being that of thought and memory- very different from our understanding of it in contemporary culture. In the Norse mythology the "news" is understood to be subjective- interpreted through thought and memory.

Another Skull

OK, I'm still looking for that "new approach." No, I haven't found it yet. I tried to create a "negative of a negative" by drawing an x-ray of the skull with charcoal on orange paper for a different approach thinking that the intricate lines of the x-ray might somehow alleviate the tremendous baggage of the subject. The abstraction of the skull did lift the burden a bit but I haven't found a use for it in a painting yet. I guess I'll submit that to the subconscious for a while and wait for it to resurface later.

A Skull

I generally try to shy away from imagery that is so dramatically played out that it actually repels serious consideration in favour of that which catches a person off guard and possibly engages a subject from an unfamiliar approach. Of course, with a skull, how can this possibly be? What "new approach" can possibly come from such an image that is so frequently recycled for sucha variety of ideas and products? I don't know. I thought the drawing turned out rather nice though as it recalls some of Bacon's painting for me. I think it is the blue and the orange colors that bring up these thoughts though it may be the similarity of Bacon's handling of paint and the way soft pastels brush accross paper.

Powder Blue

OK, so it isn't really powder blue. It does display a little of the reflected light from paint that I was trying. Unfortunately my sources were limited for a model.

Grainery

Working again with the idea of artist as recorder. Documenting buildings on the farmstead where the studio is.

Ups and Downs

Practicing again with light and the way it changes through different materials.

Government Grainery

I'm working on some ideas for a small series this summer at my studio in ND. I know the composition is simple and amateurish but it bears the idea of artist as recorder; Recording an item in its simplest terms for documentation rather than purely aesthetic purposes.

Cigarette Boxes

Found objects. Working with the light and shadow as well as geometric form.

Bottle on Tablecloth

I know, always use the most typical item for a still life. If, however, the one you happen to have, like this mishapen bottle, what choice is left?

3 1/2 items

A quick sketch playing around with some old ideas. It is fun to watch drawings develop and to happen upon them out of context. That is the case for this one of a few small items in the studio.

The Fog of War

I've spent a lot of time working on paintings from a number of different sources and all related to the war in Iraq. This is a quick sketch from some imagery I found on the web. The original photograph was of three soldiers posed by a destroyed Iraqi tank as a sort of trophy or defeated enemy or something of the kind. The image struck me in a number of ways that I find difficult to put into words; on the one hand here are the victors and our heroes, young Americans bravely serving their tour of duty in a hostile environment. On the other hand one must consider the fact that they are posed in front of what must be the tomb of other soldiers who were, in many ways, doing the same thing only, maybe they weren't as prepared or lucky.

"The Fog of War" is a loose title I've given to the series of works which focus on this subject. Many of those pieces include text found in the newspapers related to the bribery of Randy Cunningham, a decorated Vietnam veteran who sold his favors in congress to a defense contracting firm. In many ways I find it difficult to define the total tragedy of war, or for that matter, even the boundaries of that war. Was the Cunningham incident collateral damage from the war in Vietnam or in Iraq? I think effective arguments can be made for both answers to that question. If this is true, how can we possibly expect to find any real cost to such an action? And if cost is difficult to assess then how can we determine the value of the undertaking regardless of the outcome? One can find more than a little irony in that one thing seems clear: The "fog of war" obscures more than the battle lines.

Winged Peace

The third in the series is complete! Although I don't consider this the strongest in the series, I think it is still quite successful. Again I am trying to keep the image simple and strong. I want the use of space to stand out as the strongest element followed by movement (after reading "peace" the eye is lead back to the beginning by the dove who acts as an arrow). This series is not about technique but I did want some of the charracteristics of the linocut process to show through so I paid close attention to the direction of my cuts and let some ridges remain high enough to print. 

Lasting Hope

The second in the series, well actually it was the first plate cut: "Lasting Hope." Again limited to 50 but printed in gold ink this composition, like I mentioned before, uses positive and negative space, but doesn't lead the eye around quite as well as "Ringing Joy." I do, however, like the contrast between the organic shapes and the geometric. I find myself making different connections across the card... Am I really critiquing a Christmas card?! I suppose so, but then I enjoy composition and thinking about the things I see.

I am not sure it is worth mentioning as so few are made and they'll be gone before long, but you can drop me a line on email if you'ld like some and I have any left. They are $3.50 ea. and 3 for $10.

Ringing Joy

OK, so I'm a little behind on the blogs... I've been busy. I thought I'd drop a note to show some of the smaller things I've been working on. Christmas cards!

I had a moment last weekend to sit down and put together some ideas for some simple cards. I tried, in this series to pair down the imagery into its simplest form while maintaining some compositional complexity. I think I was successful with the subtle play on positive and negative space while staying consistent in my division of space. In all I think this composition is interesting as the eye is lead up through the bells into a focal point at the bottom left of the "J."

All in all the limited series of 50 cards printed well and was actually quite a bit of fun.

The Art Pipe

This is not a pipe. Ok, so maybe in some ways it is, after all, I am not Magritte either. I do, as all artists do at times, borrow from the masters. This drawing borrows from two (three if you count the slight reference to Magritte.) The first of the two is Egon Scheile: His use of line is quite amazing in itself as a way to make an image much more enjoyable and worthy of your time. The second is Paul Calle: He is the much lesser known of the two but still a master at graphite. His work was quite popular in the 60's and 70's. I particularity enjoy the way Calle lets the media show in a rather raw form. The refinement is in the draftsmanship, not in the overworking of the media. By allowing the direct application of the graphite to show, his work has an immediacy or freshness that becomes its greatest strength.

Returning to the subject of this sketch; this is the art pipe. It is a family gift, hand painted, and rather fragile. I use it for small celebrations at the completion of paintings I consider important. A ceremony, of sorts that deserves the strictest adherence.

One ornamental gourd

What happens when color does not play the role you expect it to? Surprising things can happen when you sit down and limit your media. In this case it is India Ink, and Prismacolor; nothing else.

3 Cups Vertical

I enjoy placing emphasis on the vertical in much of my work. I think this sketch reflects this as I repeat the cup from a stencil and rework it in prismacolor. Again, found text enters into the compostion.

Sulky

On my trips to the summer studio I do enjoy reflecting on the past and what it must have been like to raise a family on the plains. The labor must have been considerable and the uncertainty has been passed down through the generations. This is a sulky; basically a small cart that can be attached behind other equipment while it was being pulled by hoarses.

This is a bit more than a sketch, but not by much. It is a small ink and watercolor done on a postcard to my daughter.