K.I.A.

Rapt Paintings

Wrapped, shrouded bound, and woven works…

The ‘veiling’ of the work makes it forever unknowable. A painting encased in a chrysalis with mysterious things occurring out of sight. Ineffable. Shadows on the wall, signs in the sky. Potentials and transformations.

These paintings cross into other series, but are connected by being wrapped in stainless steel, aluminum, copper, pearls, monofilament, string or sinew. Sometimes their surfaces are worked, to creage paintings inside of paintings.

The wrapping makes gaps, giving glimpses of the images, colors, patterns, textures, burnt surfaces or mixed media collage below. Due to the textural effect of the wire, it cast shadows, but also reflects light differently from many angles which both occult the work. Sometimes so brightly that colors on the substrate below the wire are hard to discern.

The wrapping is linear, but with errant or oblique lines trailing off and throughout the work. Though wrapped in metal, the works have an intentionally hand-crafted  feel… like a weaver working on a space station.

“floSteppa” is a palimpsest of four series: a linear mandala, surfaced in mirror reflected tape used in the laser palimpsest series, then wrapped in aluminum, then painted in the shift/drift series manner. notTango a linear mandala wrapped in wire and also spray painted, but more calligraphically.

“Paracarta” crosses into the palimpsest, origami’d, and map/information series. It uses 60,000″ of stainless steel wire, which conceals layered ancient Chinese maps, a  Greek city ‘blueprint’; a weathered papyrus treasure map; Inuit coast-line recognition carvings; Polynesian ocean wave-pattern maps (the cursive underthreading pattern, see detail here.) The bends in the substrate are based on compass navigation lines.

“Magpie Dragqueen (aka The Gate They Ver), is a wrapped collage made of magazine slices, lenticulars,  various holographic foils, tinfoil, Swarovski crystals, fingernail polish and sequins, maker, graphite, crayon, and paint. (And probably some other stuff). It’s also made of nothing: there are holes drilled into the aluminum substrate, which only reveal if the painting is backlit at night.

Mirrorsea was commissioned for a yacht. Much of my work changes appearance as the viewer moves; it was very interesting to work on a piece where it’s the room that moves.

DNNT (Do Not Not Touch) is a work on copper, whose surface is meant to change color over time as it oxidizes and gets polished back by curious touchers.

At bottom are smaller works in the ongoing series.