This abstract grew out of thinking about meandering rivers. I considered the places a river might wander. I had three irregularly shaped pieces of scrap plywood left over after being stacked and cut to create three identical circles for another project. There were also two pieces of plywood left over from cutting out a large S. These two pieces, rearranged and papered in blue, became the meandering river. Mounted above a circular base covered in a fern-printed paper, the three stacked pieces were covered in patterned paper and became the landforms and structures the river passed through and beneath. They created a central focus for the assemblage. I placed a small circle as the focal point, covered with a scrap of antique map to represent human habitation.
OCTOPUS
A central head with multiple arms that enable it to reach out, grab, and explore. That image evolved into the Earth in the center with living habitats in orbit, reaching out to explore the cosmos. Then Andy Warhol’s head replaced the Earth, playing off his self-centered portraits in a fright wig. The habitats evolved into soup cans, his first claim to fame. I added an “Andy” signature to the top of each can, to emphasize his curious process of appropriating products and people, making his fame by identifying them as totems of our culture. His dual process of seeking fame while hiding within the world of the Factory references the octopuses’ voracious appetite and ability to visually and physically disappear into its background. I added a base of three expanding forms, painted colors Warhol might have used.
SCINTILLATE
To sparkle or radiate like the surface of a stream or a Hollywood starlet. I chose the latter. I developed several starlet portraits using black-and-white photos found online and reworked them in Photoshop, adding color and contour. Using plywood, I cut and painted the asymmetric background bursts of light. I wanted the bursts to appear animated, not static. It took me a while to get each shape to look spontaneous and unbalanced, yet have both working together to create a full background. Marilyn Monroe was always at the center, but once she was in place, none of the others seemed necessary. The large, red, plastic “S” was found online and purchased with several other movie marque letters. It seemed kismet to combine Marilyn with a bigger-than-life movie marque letter.