How abstracted can a subject be, before it is no longer recognizable? Can proximity to other images of the same subject reinforce recognition? This ongoing body of work started as a collection of pours and/or waterfall shapes in various states of change and abstraction. I want to create a rich rhythm of images that plays with iterations of a subject to understand how meaning can shift from image to image. I want to examine the similarities or differences, and what is measured between them.
The subject of water evolved from two sources--the first was a body of work on vessels I explored as objects of fluid potential, capable of filling up and emptying out. The second was an impulse to connect swimming with my artwork. After rediscovering swimming last spring, I wanted to explore muscle memory as echoed in visible shapes.
With the pours / waterfalls collection I'm trying to find the right level of simplification in different and flexible ways while also making a large group that ties together. Cutting the bigger shapes allows my body to interpret/make decisions as well. To find the shapes I sketch them on paper and then cut them out. The cutting takes the pressure off the act of drawing which feels weighed down by history, and creates instead an object in physical space.