Incantations
I sometimes get asked what the works in the Incantations series mean. Although I prefer to let viewers think for themselves, trusting that each will approach a drawing with their own ideas, I do see a need to narrow the interpretations of these works without fully demystifying them. All of my work is still-life, with the theme of discovery through study, but Incantations are not typical still-life drawings, even though they are all based on objects rendered from life.
My thinking when I started drawing letterforms is about how language in its physical form, text, is changed by manipulation of letters. For instance, when we converse by texting, we abbreviate severely, often making up new words by misusing our alphabet, tweaking language for reasons of economy, error, or form (in the case of emoticons). This language is contextual, purely visual, and quickly embraced because it is shocking and new.
Also, I have been thinking about how abuse of words can strip them of meaning. There is a game we used to play where you say a word over and over until it begins to sound strange. Seeing words repeated and distorted in advertising design can also be an alienating experience. There is a focus on form in both of these events that changes language in a curious way.
In other words, language is in flux, obeying and being subject to fewer rules, and expression is susceptible to being hollowed-out, emphasizing only the form. So in one respect, Incantations attempts to create new words based on visual criteria alone, and, in another respect, it plays around with language by decontextualizing and objectifying letterforms.
Each of these works is in silverpoint on prepared paper. Some are tinted with white casein to increase contrast and dimensionality.
