Untitled #1
10 x 10 in.
graphite, fabric, acrylic paint and gel medium on panel
detail
Untitled #2
16 x 20 in.
fabric, photo copies, acrylic paint and gel medium on panel
12 x 6 in.
acrylic paint, paper and gel medium on panel
Things I have been thinking about:
4 comments:
What's interesting to me is how you are making such angular cuts with the fabric and how that is in stark contrast to the organic line work. Colors are great. I don't know about the drawing...I do like the placement of it as well as it's shape... but I'm not sure what it is or why its there. The whole thing is pretty flat. I am kind of obsessed with the way you are laying down the flower fabric though...that is looking rad. So far on this 10 x 10 every element seems to have he same tempo or vibe. I am more interested in the photocopy piece because of all the cool contrasts that are happening with in the design, such as: organic flow vs angular cut, image vs pattern, black and white vs intense color. Mama like.
Lets talk about your choice of imagery. I see bride and groom, babies, kid on a bike, woman in a fancy dress, wee dog, the home, couples...all images taken from a time period we know nothing about. Your colors and fabrics speak to a post 80's era as well. Now, I know that a good orange or green straight out of a bruce lee film can be awful sexy, but I want to know about why 20-something year old Van Orden is interested in these themes.
Like always, your mark making is vibrant and exciting. There is something very designy about your cuts and (um) splashes, that is I think you have the uncanny ability to create clean, tight chaos. Rauschenberg and L'Engel were also pretty good at this so I'd say your in good company.
thank you, jamie, for the crit. i don't want to say too much though i would like to comment that i agree with you on the imagery. some of it started with our idea of "people we love" (i.e. my grandmother) but the main thrust came from just the urge to paint-and the fact that i have not since my show. so i pretty much just wanted to use pieces that have been hanging around my studio for some time now (the printed fabrics, old cookbooks and family photos, painting drips from the show etc....) so that was my basic process (though it is far from complete) and i guess my main question is should i continue with this imagery-is it to obvious/handfed.....though i am thinking i should not even worry about that at the moment because i am not thinking conceptually at all right now.
thanks again-it is good to know what you think.
and yes, they are flat. that is okay. ....for now
no keep doing what you are doing the conceptual stuff will come as you work. I wasn't saying the imagery was bad I just wanted to know why you were using it, but perhaps its too early for that.
Good work.
Untitled #1- I love the colors so far, that was an immediate reaction for me. I’ve been on a big fabric kick myself recently (see my photos from Northwoods Journals with my grandmother’s photoalbums and crochet patterns as backgrounds), and I’m loving the color and pattern of this stuff. As for the drawing, I have to admit, I’m not sure what I’m looking at yet (knowing it’s in progress of course), but I’m thinking it’s a butter knife and some kind of toast or English muffin? That looks good… I love English muffins. But I digress. I’m very intrigued to see where you go with that element. I enjoy the idea of drawing a representational object/symbol in the midst of your paint and fabric—it will hold a lot of potential value as an icon, a focal point, a red herring, a total distraction… could be all kinds of things... so I’d love to see more as it moves along.
Untitled #2- What the pink is doing inbetween the fabric, the mustard color, and the photos—that’s great. Nice gestures and marks there. I also really enjoy the line and edge in the bottom left corner, where the photo is cut with rounded edges… it’s just a nice moment in the composition, in terms of variety of marks and lines.
However, there are difficulties that I see with this piece, mostly revolving around the use of the photos… of course I would pick on that aspect. But really, there is a perpetual difficulty when it comes to working with Xerox copies… they can just tend to be so ugly and crappy, even when trying to redeem them (which I think is entirely possible) . But, I think the thing that makes Xeroxes so unappealing is not the inherent quality of their tonal range, but their substance: copier paper. Perhaps it’s different in person, but I get the feeling that the presence of the copier paper on your canvas is very “present” and distracting. It’s a very cheap feeling material, as opposed to the richness of paint or fabric. What if you did a transfer process like a xylol transfer, or fabric iron-on transfer? Or, if you want them to be like photos, then have them printed on actual photo paper so they have the same kind of material presence that the great fabric next to it has?
The third one—is that a detail or just a small piece? I love the vivid electricity of the blue, what a great hue. The texture/edge of the spill looks pretty luscious, and the recipe page says Minneapolis on it, so you’ve sold me on that one. I like it. I want to see more of it.
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