This carefully staged, dreamlike interior merges theatrical space, symbolic imagery, and an abstracted dancing figure. Executed in colored pencil and ink, the drawing balances delicacy of line with a restrained yet luminous palette dominated by cool shades of blues, punctuated by warmer accents. The blues are accentuated by my use a paper that is both turquoise colored and textured.
Continue reading “The Dance (on textured turquoise paper) (1977)”
This mixed media piece (prismacolor and ink) was put together in Ann Arbor, Michigan when I there to participate in Polly’s wedding. It records a conversation with Polly’s mother before the wedding.
A free form abstraction drawing, like many of my Fantasy painting of this time, the perimeter is irregular and was intentionally cut this way to accentuate the image’s dynamic.
Continue reading “Polly’s Wedding, 1978”
Free form abstraction drawing created with prismacolor and ink. Like many of the Fantasy painting of this time, the perimeter is irregular and was intentionally cut this way to accentuate the image’s dynamic. Polly’s Wedding is another work in this series, although the irregular perimeter is not as pronounced.
Continue reading “Going Home (1977), a free form abstraction”
Overall, Puppeteer suggests a puppeteer, a person who manipulates an inanimate object called a puppet to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. It presents this puppeteer as a solitary, invisible figure orchestrating within a pictorial space that suggests some kind of stage.
The theme and style drew on my early 1970s engagement with Aubrey Beardsley’s graphic work, particularly the drawings he did for Salomé. Apparent similarities include the Puppeteer’s flatness; the use of line, pattern and ornament to delineate a narrative that evokes design more than it does realism; and the use of costume and texture to illicit different emotional registers. There are also echoes of Art Nouveau in this early work, a style Beardsley adapted into his high-contrast black-and-white style. Continue reading “Puppeteer (1973)”