Ropes began as an exploration in simplicity. I wanted to spend time with drawings that were more abstract and less hectic, to veer away from the figurative, narrative and surreal content that is present in the Mount Create, Harbingers and Transportation Stations series.
True to form, the series only briefly held onto its minimalist roots. It grew in its complexity as each piece of paper arrived on my drafting table. The scale increased, as did the quantity of ropes and the intricacy of pattern. In the end, both the sculptures and the drawings went from having a soft curvilinear movement between one rope, to being an enormous heaping pile of ropes with varying textures, sizes and formations.
No matter my initial intention for a sublime quietude, the work evolved into a dense byzantine, knotty mess. I love that there is something basic and simple within the chaos and intricacy of everything, and especially that this holds true in the reverse.
This series also marks the first time I called in a coloring crew to help. Ropes in Blue, Green, Orange and Brown with a size of 5 by 10 feet, my largest drawing to date, was just too large to color in with the time I had left before my exhibition opened.
Ropes began as an exploration in simplicity. I wanted to spend time with drawings that were more abstract and less hectic, to veer away from the figurative, narrative and surreal content that is present in the Mount Create, Harbingers and Transportation Stations series.
True to form, the series only briefly held onto its minimalist roots. It grew in its complexity as each piece of paper arrived on my drafting table. The scale increased, as did the quantity of ropes and the intricacy of pattern. In the end, both the sculptures and the drawings went from having a soft curvilinear movement between one rope, to being an enormous heaping pile of ropes with varying textures, sizes and formations.
No matter my initial intention for a sublime quietude, the work evolved into a dense byzantine, knotty mess. I love that there is something basic and simple within the chaos and intricacy of everything, and especially that this holds true in the reverse.
This series also marks the first time I called in a coloring crew to help. Ropes in Blue, Green, Orange and Brown with a size of 5 by 10 feet, my largest drawing to date, was just too large to color in with the time I had left before my exhibition opened.
Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art - Installation, 2010
Rope Pile Triptych, ink and colored pencil, 30" x 88", 2010
Rope Pile Triptych (detail), ink and colored pencil, 30" x 88", 2010
Ropes in Blue, Green, Orange and Brown, 51" x 110" - Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art - Installation, 2010
Ropes in Blue, Green, Orange and Brown (detail), ink and colored pencil, 51" x 110", 2010
Ropes in Aqua, Rust and Brown, ink and colored pencil, 11" x 14", 2009
Ropes in Turquoise, Bronze, Red and Brown, ink and colored pencil, 11" x 14", 2009
Ropes in Grey, Tan and Yellow, ink and colored pencil, 30" x 44", 2010
Ropes in Grey, Tan and Yellow (detail), ink and colored pencil, 30" x 44", 2010
Rope in Green on Grey, ink and colored pencil, 22" x 30", 2009
Rope in Blue on Tan, ink and colored pencil, 22" x 30", 2009