Decomposites

I am sitting at my desk right now  … looking at aluminum.

The impetus for the plates comes from the mixed media and installation work I have done over the years, and an effort to move beyond the tyranny of the perfect silver or now digital print. I wanted to bring a little more life into the pieces, and emphasize the object  … as an object that is used, rather then an object that is framed or stored away.  A touch stone for the pieces became the retablos from mexico and south america… often primitive in nature and execution …. the years of handling and exposure to the environment often lends them a deep beauty  .. and a sense of that they have been used because they have a real purpose.

I began to work with Aluminum because  ..  it was thin  … and one could store and move the pieces quite easily.  And when one collages on aluminum  .. there are not all the gremlins of paper warping.  Over time I found Aluminum as a substrate  .. just worked.

Anyway  .. the first plates  … I made were from aluminum panels that I would paint over for different installations and exhibitions.  They had layers of paintings and collage, and the first ones I really laid into with sand paper, scraping with razor blades  .. and pigments  .. ie dirt.   They were rough  … over time I found my inclination to refine things set in  .. and the plates are more and more perfectly done. There is a place where they can be too refined  .. and they lose some of the life I wanted in the images.  

There is a natural bend to aluminum sheets, you see it in the larger the pieces.  It may sound counter intuitive  .. but I have gone for thinner aluminum as the pieces have gotten larger … it is lighter to handle … and flattens when put on the wall. I like to lift the pieces slightly off the wall for installation with a substrate underneath that can add body.

Also  … these pieces are still dynamic  .. I am still trying out subtle things   … just to see how they look  … again I want something that is alive and interesting to make.

• michael

From his earliest exhibitions, the artist has experimented with the dissection, alteration, and obscuring of his photographic images. Whether the spatial interrelationship has been maintained or altered, the dissection, or reframing and recomposition, of the image changes our perception.  We are subtly challenged to reexamine and reenvision the landscape.

In these “decomposites”, a single image is dissected and reassembled revealing the complexity of fractal form, internal composition, and additional dimensionality.

There is both a logic and serendipity of slicing the image and mounting on painted and hand pigmented panels. Each piece is unique. For specific sizes, prices, availability, or commissions, please contact the gallery.

A representative range is shown:

1/14 Line. Rancho El Chivo, CH.  43.5h x 62w on 5 plates.

2/14 Laguna el Uno. Tres Castillos, CH.  43.5h x 62w on 5 plates.

3/14 Birds. Janos, CH.  74.5h X 118w on 7 plates.

4/14 Salt, Steel, and Tar. Cornudas Mountains, NM.  48h x52w on 3 plates.

5/14 Hanger & Cross. Abandoned Townsite, TX.  42h x 47w on 5 plates.

6/14 Open Door. El Nido, CH.  On 3 plates.

7/14 Water Tank. Rancho Palomino, CH.  On 5 plates.

8/14 House. Chupadero, NM. On 5 plates.

9/14 Reeds. Independence Creek, TX.  45h x 62w on 3 plates.

10/14 Two Snakes on a Wire. Coyamito Sud, CH. 48h x 22w on 2 plates.

11/14 Grasslands. Peloncillo Mountains, AZ. 48h x 72w on 5 plates.

12/14 Storm. Marfa, TX.  On 5 plates.

13/14 Dead Cottonwood. Rio Casas Grandes, CH. On 8 plates.

14/14 Rio Grande. Big Bend, TX.  32h x 74w on 9 plates.