Back in art school, we were shown the film Powers of Ten by Charles and Ray Eames, an exploration of the universe from the atomic level to the cosmic infinite revealed through the system of exponential powers. It was astonishing and left me contemplating the inner and outer worlds of our experience and the wonder of scale. Years later, I stumbled upon the book Heaven and Earth by Katherine Roucoux and was reminded of the infinitesimal and the astronomical. There was something in the expansiveness of it all that had me in its clutches.
In 2012, as I began my exploration into what concepts to investigate for an upcoming exhibition, I pulled out my pencils and began drawing highly detailed patterns of organic shapes. Images developed and what appeared were three large pages of tiny realms. Unexpectedly, it was suddenly clear that the exhibition would be an exploration of invented worlds in a universe of my own making, explored through a similar system of scale as the Eames’ film.
The building blocks of my universe consist of pinwhickles, cells, ropes, branches, crystals, terrazzo, lily pads, cocoon eyeballs, feathers, and flotsam - shapes both real and imagined based upon inspiring forms, textures, movements, colors, and patterns.
There are ten drawings in the series which stand alone as individual pieces but together comprise the artwork. Think of it as a circular slide show, where three layers are evident in each image at one time with varying degrees of magnification. As you travel through the universe, each drawing shows a change of magnification from 1:1, 1:500, and 1:1000.
Corresponding letterpress prints of each building block that comprise this universe were printed by Smokeproof Press.
All works were created in 2012.
Back in art school, we were shown the film Powers of Ten by Charles and Ray Eames, an exploration of the universe from the atomic level to the cosmic infinite revealed through the system of exponential powers. It was astonishing and left me contemplating the inner and outer worlds of our experience and the wonder of scale. Years later, I stumbled upon the book Heaven and Earth by Katherine Roucoux and was reminded of the infinitesimal and the astronomical. There was something in the expansiveness of it all that had me in its clutches.
In 2012, as I began my exploration into what concepts to investigate for an upcoming exhibition, I pulled out my pencils and began drawing highly detailed patterns of organic shapes. Images developed and what appeared were three large pages of tiny realms. Unexpectedly, it was suddenly clear that the exhibition would be an exploration of invented worlds in a universe of my own making, explored through a similar system of scale as the Eames’ film.
The building blocks of my universe consist of pinwhickles, cells, ropes, branches, crystals, terrazzo, lily pads, cocoon eyeballs, feathers, and flotsam - shapes both real and imagined based upon inspiring forms, textures, movements, colors, and patterns.
There are ten drawings in the series which stand alone as individual pieces but together comprise the artwork. Think of it as a circular slide show, where three layers are evident in each image at one time with varying degrees of magnification. As you travel through the universe, each drawing shows a change of magnification from 1:1, 1:500, and 1:1000.
Corresponding letterpress prints of each building block that comprise this universe were printed by Smokeproof Press.
All works were created in 2012.
Powers of Ten: I, ink and colored pencil, 30" x 40", 2012
Powers of Ten: II, ink and colored pencil, 30" x 40", 2012
Powers of Ten: III, ink and colored pencil, 30" x 40", 2012
Powers of Ten: IV, ink and colored pencil, 30" x 40", 2012
Powers of Ten: V, ink and colored pencil, 30" x 40", 2012
Powers of Ten: VI, ink and colored pencil, 30" x 40", 2012
Powers of Ten: VII, ink and colored pencil, 30" x 40", 2012
Powers of Ten: VIII, ink and colored pencil, 30" x 40", 2012
Powers of Ten: IX, ink and colored pencil, 30" x 40", 2012
Powers of Ten: X, ink and colored pencil, 30" x 40", 2012
Powers of Ten: I, letterpress, 10" x 10", 2012
Powers of Ten: II, letterpress, 10" x 10", 2012
Powers of Ten: III, letterpress, 10" x 10", 2012
Powers of Ten: IV, letterpress, 10" x 10", 2012
Powers of Ten: V, letterpress, 10" x 10", 2012
Powers of Ten: VI, letterpress, 10" x 10", 2012
Powers of Ten: VII, letterpress, 10" x 10", 2012
Powers of Ten: VIII, letterpress, 10" x 10", 2012
Powers of Ten: IX, letterpress, 10" x 10", 2012
Powers of Ten: X, letterpress, 10" x 10", 2012