Systems Paintings

These are paintings that are made both as visual celebration and also as a form of meditative practice. I will for the most part start the piece off with a basic pre determined “system” to build the image and then in the form of old gospel choir praise music, I employ “call” and “response” in an effort to let the painting direct me. A black circle might call to being bisected by two green lines which then lead to the whole painting being sanded over and three pink squares put down next, and so on and so on. The image begins to build and multiply itself in visual response to what is unfolding. Back and forth it goes, calling and responding.

The systems employed are always simple. Maybe spelling out a word and letting the overlapping letters form a pictoral structure. Or counting to 10 using paint moves (one square, two lines, three triangles, etc.). Always simple but always helpful in allowing me to get deep into the process.