Interestingly enough, the more I simplify my work on the fluttering pages pieces, the more I intensify my deliberations and focus – and the more new variations that present themselves for consideration.
As I work, I realize there is power in simplicity, that there is no need to put a “spin” on what I create as an artist. I don’t need to call my pieces “haricot verts” to make them appear more than they are.
Working with the ideas of repetition in this series that I call “fluttering pages” both constrains and expands my choices. I like their simplicity and directness, but also relish the interesting way they appear to have movement and dimensionality as one encounters them in real life. Expose them to air and they flutter, in high humidity, some of the pages begin to curl. Their surfaces feel map-like to me as well, something I hope to accentuate in future pieces.
What I make is the best that I can bring forth at a particular moment in time and I am happy to appreciate the considerable work and thought that goes into my choices. I can love my “green beanness”.
Book of the Ancients 5: Hand Written, 18” x 28”, 2011, gold leaf, spun polyester fabric, fiberglass screening, pigments, thread. Screen printed, collaged, constructed. Photography by Jim Via.
Detail, Book of the Ancients 5: Hand Written
This smaller work presents letters and words, excerpted from an unknown 19th century writer’s journal, that drift across the surface of the pages like falling leaves.
