Scripts & Systems Juried Exhibition

If you happen to be in the Lexington area on May 24th... I am very happy to have been selected for a juried exhibition alongside Alan Singer. The show has many great works curated by Charlie Campbell for "Scripts & Systems" hosted by Lexington Art League... more information can be found here: http://www.lexingtonartleague.org/

Remnants: Within an Age of Digitalism (Pre-Reception)

Remnants: Within an Age of Digitalism

Synthesis No. 2667 Ureilassius (24" x 36" Intaglio-Type Series)

Synthesis No. 2187 Aenon

Synthesis No. 2047 Nanai

Synthesis No. 2030 Susano

Synthesis No. 2054 Xairon

Printmaking Monotypes with Ron Pokrasso

Die Cuts, Embossing, Projections, Digital Media

Thesis work has been in the works for sometime, although I don't think I will end up showing a key piece or two due to setup of the gallery and lack of time on my part. I don't really see this show as an end all, only the beginning, so that's ok. I have been working with technology since at least 1995 when I studied graphic communications at my high school and downloaded my first version of Photoshop. Actually, it was all an "accident" I never had an art class until my senior year of high school, and I had only transferred to Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School because the day before classes started in the 9th grade I had gone to the dentist and one of my best friends James was there. He told me that he was changing schools... So I asked my father if I could too, I didn't even know what a vocational school was. I remember being called down to the cafeteria to sign up for "shops"... later I learned that this meant that I only had to study "academics" every other week, but really it meant so much more. I changed shops three times while I was there, Electronics, Information Technology, and Graphic Communications.

Actually, I really hated commercial printing, I found it to be so boring at the time. Printing calendars and brochures was not fun at all, but luckily somehow I learned enough which transferred over to my Printmaking as an undergraduate at Rochester Institute of Technology. My first real experience with fine art printing was when I met Keith Howard and David Jay Reed, that changed everything. I miss those years because I used to do everything that you weren't supposed to do, when you're young and clueless you just don't know any better. I remember asking Keith if I could develop a photograph (photo paper) in the developer... which turned out to be "soda ash" and not photographic chemical. He looked at me and said he didn't know whether to laugh or not because he couldn't figure out if I was being serious.

The way I work has changed and evolved over the years but in general it starts with sketches/drawing that I redo in Photoshop or Illustrator. Using scanners, commercial printing techniques, and photographic processes... They all usually end up being mixed up together. I really do not see a difference between any of them and I never have. I've had this discussion a lot lately... it always ends up really abstracted and people telling me that this is not that or that is not this.

Atmosphere Decons

I was recently selected to be in the faculty/student invitational show for the grand opening of the downtown Gallery r location. After so many years, it was nice to finally show alongside Keith Howard, my professor, mentor, and friend. Bernie took the photo, she was recently accepted for the IPCNY show in NYC so that was great to hear!

I have been trying to juggle thesis exhibition work, writing, job research & applications alongside my crazy schedule and personal life. I guess this is what everyone goes through... It's frustrating, I do not enjoy "finishing" work for the sake of deadlines, I do not feel sometimes that my final prints/drawings are completed as I would like... but again, I'm sure every artist goes through this. (I most certainly am not an exception.) There's so much crap that I produce that never gets shown anywhere: ideas, notes, experiments. Countless experiments, they have always been part of my nature. Piecing together and taking apart...

I have been creating and learning more and more about book binding... Books, although geared towards aesthetics are quite functional. I really enjoy sitting down and figuring out how to put together a book that potentially has some kind of purpose. It can be considered art, but not necessarily. So when I am done, there is no question of its authenticity. Bookbinding right now equals meditation.

Visiting Roni Henning in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn

New York City Earthquake & CUNY Exhibition

I'm pretty sure that I started it all when I spilled my rice krispies all over the counter this morning... It was first reported as a 5.9 and turned out to be a 5.8 originating in Mineral somewhere in the Virginia/D.C. area. An earthquake hasn't hit NYC since 60 years ago, and it only happens about once a century. This was my first earthquake experience, I was at Jose's apartment in Rockaway Beach when the table suddenly started shaking. I had no idea what was going on! I thought it was the wind or a truck or something passing by... it wasn't until about an hour later that I found out what it really was when I heard about it on the news. I guess all of the phone lines were jammed with this, "thrust faulting earthquake." All of California is probably laughing at us right about now.

In other news, the Canon 20D I had signed out from RIT just went into "error 99" mode since yesterday and it doesn't look like an easy fix, I'm just waiting to hear it from the tech guys when I get back. I was taking a photo from my car and it just happened, it must be some mechanical or cleaning issue. Fun times because I did not bring a back up and I know I'm going to hear it from Eric who was nice enough to have let me have it all summer! Yes to errors one week before turning in equipment! Sarcasm at its best of coarse.

To end on a positive note, I was recently informed that two of my prints were chosen for an exhibition at CUNY: The Center University of New York http://events.cuny.edu/eventDetail.asp?EventId=33058 "Caribbean Art and Artists for the Diaspora" will run from August 31st until October 21st! Also, I'm meeting Roni Henning at her studio in Brooklyn on Friday!

Of All the Things I've ever Been

Last night I was working in the studio and remembered that I had been starring at one of my transparencies from the transfer technique the previous night; I finally realized the reason why I had sat there looking at it for so long. The DASS film has a glue coating, and with my vector or drawn lines having been worked out after the transfer, there remains a frosted coat left on the film. This coat acts as a piece of one sided mylar and can be reworked into using toner, eraser, charcoal... and then exposed to ImagOn. The color that is left behind on the DASS film surface at first seems too light to do anything with, but in actuality it can then again be used as a stencil itself and prints a reversal which can also be reworked. I still have many tests to do, but there is something about it that caught my eye. The process has only been taught and developed at RIT for the last two years by Alan Singer; Keith has yet to try the process himself. As far as I know, when I approached Bernice with my experiment, she said I was the first to have done this new transfer-intaglio technique; the potential I see in it is that the transparency can be used for at least three different processes.

I had dinner last night at Keith's with John, Kevin, and Henrik... We had arrived around 7:30 and were there for a little over four hours, it was a long night of funny and amusing conversation, wine, and art talk. Keith's house is filled with artwork from various visitors and and past travels; he is leaving on sabbatical after winter quarter and we are already taking lead of the four-color studio II class; we will work in teams to create weekly work and have a competition to print chosen work done in the class by the students. Kevin, John, and I will be the team leaders; I've also been managing and reworking ideas for the studio and redoing signage while looking into some processes. Susan Rostow is coming to Rochester next weekend, there is an artist from Japan coming in December but I'll be in Miami for Art Basel with the guys, we've taken off the first week of classes. John and I entered into the Au Naturel international competition last night, I'm not sure how my processes will sit with the jurors... I wonder what people think about when they see my work. I've been drawing from a live figure model, which has helped me get out of a slump; I'll have John's model tomorrow morning since he'll be busy. Everyone is over at Amy's tonight but I had to write a paper for tomorrow and I need Sundays to work out some things. I saw one of Alan's watercolors at Keith's, I'm going to try to buy some more materials on Tuesday for the transfer process. I'll probably as Alan to be on my thesis committee, along with Keith who is my main advisor; I'm thinking of also approaching Michael Amy with at least some of my ideas.

I'm between hybridization and street art, some ideas... but only ideas so far. We went to ROCO the other night with Aspa and Dimitri, I think I'm going to take her stone cutting class along with Eddie, she'll sign me in. I have a lot more writing to do for my thesis, even though I don't start officially until next fall. I went to the Psychedelic show over at MAG, it was ok; I liked the robot and monitors attached to lights and sound machines. I'm feeling a lot better these days, I'm hoping Katie will stop around Rochester when she comes back... And I have a show in the works alongside my good friend Christina for Shawn Dunwoody's Four Walls Gallery, it will be up for two months and there was just an article on 1975 and a few others in the D&C... I should really put out my work rather than letting it sit under my bed, there's more than just the process; this I am now realizing. So no promises, but I just need to keep experimenting and working. I miss Nesh, she is in Beijing... I have to email her soon so that we can collaborate on some things.

I will be working in the studio during Thanksgiving break... my portfolio book is coming along well, I have a lot of prints to do.

:: 4 Color Inverse Intaglio Type ::