GOTHIC ARTWORK 2012
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GOTHIC ARTWORK "None of these things..." Beneath the bricks and bones lies an amorphous macroverse made up of all our thoughts, dreams, actions and interactions. Unconscious ideologies spread like a fungus metastasizing across the metropolis affecting the people, architecture, the market and the world. Whether or not we realize it, this underlying singularity connects each and every individual to a bizarre struggle to exist. These weird pen and ink portraits examine this struggle through a series of dark expressions of the physical, emotional and psychedelic aspects of its imaginary subjects.
In order to examine these strange notions I decided on a very specific set of symbolic devices to explore throughout the drawings. Each drawing is made up of only three symbols using bricks, crowds and the human face. The bricks represent the city signifying the past, present and future of construction. By choosing bricks there is an odd recollection of gothic prisons while simultaneously reminding us of progressive construction. The crowds represent our interactions, both conscious and otherwise, with all peoples. In this instance I have drawn the crowds as hordes of intertwined faces amidst a vascular labyrinth suggestive of the human brain. The human face itself becomes the center piece of the works as each drawing introduces a new character and a new expression. Each character relates a unique story, emotion and personality allowing the audience to identify with the qualities of being an individual while simultaneously conveying our roles as part of a collective entity. In essence the drawings are simply portraits of people, thinking about progress and thinking about people. |
In addition to the restricted set of symbols I also used a very specific process while developing this gothic artwork. With the goal of achieving some sort of unconscious revelation I decided to draw the works as quickly as possible without any preliminary sketches or under drawings. This sort of aggressive approach allows for a sort of meditative state and has the potential of heeding unexpected results. By setting the theme and symbols ahead of time I am able to stay focused on the general topic why maintaining the freedom necessary to discover accidental innovation.
All of the drawings were done using quill pens and black India ink which also lends itself to this sort of expressive exploration. Pen and ink is an extremely difficult and entirely unforgiving media especially when used at a fast pace. However this uncontrollable technique forces me to let go of predetermined imagery as one never really knows where the lines will land on the paper. Each drawing was also made in a single sitting, start to finish, regardless of size. The combination of meditation, the high speed technique, and the messy pen and ink creates a beautiful unpredictability that continues to hold my interest after many years of experiments. The entire "None of these things..." collection consisted of 5 large works (4 x 6 feet - 10 x 10 feet), 15 small drawings ( 8 x 10 - 18x 24) and a corresponding comic book publication entitled "End of the Line".
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Showcase of ink drawings and comics at Robert Kananaj Gallery |
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