Things I’ve Saved
Every bit of color matters. My brain notices it all, is constantly in overload because of needing to respond, move, collect, and remembers and textures. Things I’ve saved is an ongoing series that focuses on the collection and reworking of process materials and scraps such as old palettes and cut up paintings, in order to create new compositions that play with scale, rhythm, movement, and color. The question of how we assign value to the objects we keep, desire, or make underlies the process of saving materials for years because I see potential and value in even the smallest scrap. My brain has a real problem with hierarchical structures and seeks balance and justice constantly, creating an almost compulsive attachment to colors in many forms. The palettes are saved from my paintings, and then when I have the urge to focus in this way, or have collected enough, I peel them off individually and adhere to panel or canvases in different ways depending on where I am at. I’m currently exploring different grounds and working on larger scale works but I only circle back to this body of work once every couple of years as it is a specific process I am only in the mood for every so often. My studio practice of collecting materials echoes my lifelong collection and documentation of natural objects while exploring my environments, and photographing random bits of color and texture in my urban environment.