WORKS ON PAPER - Singing the Body Electric

LES FEMMES

After a number of years, where I abandoned representational imagery for abstract and conceptual themes, I have returned to the figure. Here is the artist statement which accompanied my 2016 exhibit: 19 Nudes: Works on Paper: "Our fascination with the human body is every-current and inextinguishable because it comes from a place of carnal desire. I read that once, or something to the effect. And I think it's true. This show endeavors to explore the female form through varying prisms: beauty, naturalism, dreams, humor, modern masters (both literary and artistic). The nineteen pieces on display are done in pen & ink, sometime stained with watercolor, sometimes applied in a blotted line technique invented by Andy Warhol. The exhibit as a whole was inspired by Walt Whitman's "I Sing the Body Electric". Published in 1855, the poem exalts in the connection between the flesh and the soul,  between body and mind. I believe his ideas to be at the essence of human experience -- transcending race, gender, age, and cultural background; transcending time, in fact. The paintings for this show were chosen in light of these beautiful words:

This is the female form,
A divine nimbus exhales from it from head to foot,
​It attracts with fierce and undeniable attraction,
I am drawn by its breath as if I were no more than helpless vapor, all falls aside but myself and it ..."
                                                             Walt Whitman
​                                                             Leaves of Grass 

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THE MAN SHOW

I would one day like to exhibit these pieces, along with some others, and call it “The Man Show"
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Here’s what I haven’t yet mentioned but still wish you to know:  Life is better with desire."

Excerpt from August 31st, The Thrift Shop Diary

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PAPER DOLLS etc.

My paper dolls and cards began in 2015 in collaboration with the eye Ithaca gallery. For my paper doll, I created the Venus and Mars Collections. After the last presidential election she radicalized a bit and I created the rEVOLution Collection, a line of seven messaged tee shirts for every day of the week.

 ...what I realize about Maman’s fashion sense was her gift for nuance; her instinct for subtlety. She didn’t so much attain a style, but an effect of studied informality.”

Excerpt, March 24th, The Thrift Shop Diary

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FIGURE DRAWING

​My passion is drawing the female nude and I have been attending a figure drawing session every week for a couple of years now. For me, it’s one of the few places where, when everything's going right, the mind-body-spirit connection is palpable. My next long-term project is to learn Erik Satie's Gymnopédie No. 1 on the piano, which represents the composer's stripped-down style known as "dépouillé". Eventually I will record myself playing the piece and use it as the soundtrack for an extended slideshow of my figurative work.

… each of us holds the power to understand the secret of life. We need not look further than within our own selves.”  
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Excerpt, Dec. 27th, The Thrift Shop Diary

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