Inanimation
The genesis for this short series of pen and ink works was during a visit to my uncle, the artist Robert Tracy. I can't recall the subject of our conversation, but at one point he excused himself and appeared several minutes later wearing the mask shown in Mr. Cellophane.
I fell in love with it - brittle, yellowed, and cracked from God knows how many years - and that not-quite-malevolent but still off-putting expression. I knew from that moment that I needed to put it to paper. Shortly afterward, I started finding large numbers of decorative ceramic masks at thrift shops. Faced with all of these faces, I challenged myself to bring them life and emotion. To give them stories.
Ink on paper - 22" x 22" - 2012
Syllabus
The subject is a still life made up of a plaster bust, a spool of magnetic cassette tape, and a bent clothes-hanger.
The piece is an essay on the state of our educational system - children are fed information, asked to regurgitate it for exams, and immediately repeat the process with next week's lesson. I do not blame educators, but a system of massive budget cuts and packed classrooms necessitating a more efficient "teaching" method based on rote memorization more than critical thought.
Ink on paper - approx. 2.5' x 3.75' - 2011
Mr. Cellophane
A simple, translucent mask lit from the side and producing complex fields of light and shadow. Originally, I was drawn to the expression on this "face" - it is not overtly menacing, but the indecipherable smile is also not obviously friendly.
Once work began, I became entranced with the impossible highlights and shadows brought on by decades worth of aging cheap plastic, and a harsh natural light source.
Ink on paper - 13" x 22" - 2012
1,000,000
Subject is a minimalist still life comprised of a highly stylized ceramic mask, ribbon, and some candlewax. Like many of the subjects considered for and used in this series, the face is aesthetically pleasing, but the obvious lack of life in the hollow eyes provides an interesting counterpoint to the lifelike expression.
The piece drips with loneliness, both in subject and in composition. Deliberately liberal use of white space forces the subject into the far reaches of the frame, imparting a sense of deep isolation.
Ink on paper - 12" x 18" - 2010
Hangers On
By far the simplest in this series, it is a still life of two decorative ceramic masks, hung in such a way that they intertwine. This physical connection between the two subjects implies a living, psychological connection between the them - perhaps a mother-daughter bond.
As with 1,000,000, the sparse composition and heavy use of white space darken the mood and bring more emotion into the inanimate subjects than one might reasonably suspect.