Correspondences and Natural Philosophy
I am currently revisiting an idea I have had for a long time concerning the way forms in nature are incorporated into human-made objects, both in paintings and in decorative objects (this is an insight early collectors revealed in their cabinets). I call these works 'Correspondences', and while they are based on visual overlap, I like the way they play with different levels of representaion and seem to create new narrative spaces and visual reverberations. This aspect equally connects them back to the Meta painting series as does the explicit borrowings from historical painting.
These latest paintings use a kind of collage of painted images, but I complicate the space by working with a combination of flat and deep space. I hope to create in them a sense of a narrative that remains mysterious, calling the viewer to interpret how the images relate to each other and construct meaning.
Natural Philosophy
This year I have transitioned to a format in which I start compositions with a grid. This allows me to employ elements central to the content of my work: juxtaposition of landscape and still life; drawing from the history of art; drawing from the conceptual history of taxonomy and collection; playing with a pre-scientific taxonomy of resemblance; exploring the overlap between natural form, fine art, and decorative arts. The grid gives me the freedom to use a less literal space, one that can become more abstract and which fits into my continuing attraction to shallow spaces.
