Stray thoughts on this piece (No.2) and the series in general:
Is this a painting? The thread is the only vestige of drawing in this piece with its reference to suspended movement and record keeping. If it is a painting, I’m not sure how I feel about that. I’m wrestling with why I’m making these new works and how uncomfortable they are making me. They are not drawings. They look like paintings. And in painted form, they seem to engage more directly with a particular vernacular of abstraction that can often be frivolous and utilized with abandon by artists of dubious motives and deference. Yet, at their core, the concept is simple. Life as something with order, structure, and security is an illusion. We string it all together with spit, gum, tape, glue, and whatever MacGyvering we can do with whatever we happen to find surrounding our particular place, environment, and body. Then we sit back and marvel at this suspension of reason and convince ourselves that it is ordered, that it is strong. And, of course, it is, because truth, like order, is an illusion. So, bubble gum and string can be welded seams and steel. And a painting can be a drawing, and a seemingly benign abstraction can be a suspended self-portrait of insecurities and confusion masquerading as confidence and sureness.