an interesting contrast to the
bright colors of the sensory-overloaded cinema.
I made the decision to use a limited palette. These colors are so
dull, that the color that functions
as a red is actually a brown. The
name of the color is Caput Mortuum, which is “dead head” in Latin. A lot of the modern colors are
synthetic, but these colors have an
alchemical quality to them. Most
of them have Latin names. They
are these organic colors made out
of dirt, which I like. It also allowed
me to have a little bit of warm and
cool. The limited palette emphasizes the suggestion of memory
and time; a fleeting memory. This
petrochemical world is disappearing, and it’s going to become like
the ghost towns from out West.
There is a bleakness about it, but
I see a beauty in it, too. It’s a sad,
wistful kind of beauty. For a lot of
people, this is the world we have.
detail from Vaselina Springs I-X, mixed media You can see its fault, but also look
for the beauty or aesthetic. There
and making up stories that filled in the gaps. While I was writing about is a despairing quality, but there is also a sort of embrace of the beauty
what was happening, the writing started to become art instead of just that is still there. Some parts of the paintings are more specific and
explanation. Because I’m a paintdetail from Vaselina Springs I-X, mixed media
er, I started making images that
are illustrative of the place itself.
I am starting to work with a guy
in Arkansas who is a filmmaker,
so we’re going to add some video components. He’s got all these
ideas on how you can make an
installation piece where there’s
video on all four walls, the ceiling,
and the floor. People will be literally walking into the images. It is
a reaction to the sensory overload
in cinema. You have images, and
story, and the overwhelming visual experience of being in a dark
room with this brightly colored
picture that is 30 feet high, and
then sound on top of that. In a
way, it is influenced by this operatic approach by bringing a lot of
art forms into the picture. A lot of
that is because people seem to require a lot of stimulation now. In
order to get someone’s attention,
you have to do a lot.
You