Birkenau Series 2/3rds Finished

Here is the series thus far ....

All Prep Work for Birkenau Series

This are the last three preps for the series.  One of which ended up being Stacks, the last two are Shower and Ash Pond.  These I hope to finish this week or by the final critique first week of May. These will be finished as the others to complete the series.

Process Work for "Stacks"

This is the process work for Stacks

Stacks

This is the fourth of the series based abstractly on the images of the barracks and cattle cars loaded with human beings, images weighted down towards the ground.  I have several images of the process which include the last two paintings that have been prepped.

Finished 2 Already in Progress for Birkenau Series

These two are Selection and Judas Hole.  These have been shown in an early state (in-progress) in previous blog entries.  In working on these I came up with a solution for edging the painting in line within the concept of "transition" as it relates to the spirituality of life so deeply and literally entrenched in this space.  I planted each painting into its own space and offer again a metallic bridge in the form of a silver inset that helps to bridge it from one reality to the next.  This is work is many ways is more successful in integrating mixed media (particularly metal) than Panim el Panim.  Each time I work slowly through the process I am able to discover ways that make more sense to the piece and repurpose the additional media (e.g. barbed wire, metal mesh, etc) in ways that integrate them together rather than lie as separate entities next to each other.

72 Hours

Okay working, working, working.  Spent 72 hours at school working on paintings and classwork (mostly painting or drawing) and it doesn't count work at home.  Actually I would just prefer to paint but I am also working on studies for the studies for the large panels.  I am finishing the edging on the Time Pit series.  I added all the bridge pieces and gilded them.  Waxing the edges is the final thing, first layers painted and am in the process of fusing.

The next entries are the process pieces and work-in-progress for the Birkenau series.  Four of the six completed with the fourth one just finished hours ago at the studio.  Two more paintings to go to finish this series and the prep work has been completed.  Goal is to get these two done this week.

Repeating It

Okay I have started a series of large scale drawings which are studies for the large 6' panels I hope to start this month and work on during the summer.  The concept has developed from the idea of "those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it".  It is not the concept behind the paintings but is part of the process of this drawing.  I wish that I had documented this drawing from the beginning; however I have about six layers of charcoal, chalk, conte' crayon, and graphite.  It is a figurative drawing and this figure emerged over the course of several weeks.  Seth and I had a good discussion about it and I agree with adding layers of other papers and building on the surface.

Close Up of "Judas Hole/Opening"

Birkenau Series - Judas Opening: The peephole in the door of the gas chambers used by the sadists to peer into the chamber to watch men, woman, and children perish by the thousands in 15-20 minutes.  Perish by means of asphyxiation from a poison also used to kill vermin.  The poisonous gas prevented the blood from transferring oxygen from breathing to necessary organs and parts of the body.  You breathed but did not absorb air.  Note the use of the word Judas - means Jew and refers to the New Testament, the betrayer of Christ.  

Upper Panels - Birkenau Series

Unlike the Time Pit human reflection of the "Little Woods" staging area for the Killing Center in Birkenau, this series is more of the physical mechanics of the center and the methodical means by which million were killed.  This series is still in the process and really good input in regards to the types of materials used in these panels were discussed with Alf, Shaun, Janice, and Taro.  I am working my way through understanding how to use found materials and how to manipulate other materials making them my own.  I think that it is important to use both past and present in all of my work.  You can't have one without the other which is one of the reasons I have been using the "modern" wood and other materials in the paintings.  The problem has been the integration of the antique barbed wire and other found materials.  I plan on taking a class with Shaun and individual workshops with Alf to figure out how to manipulate metal as one of the inorganic components of my work.  I need to explore this area more and hope to do so at another workshop I am having at Penland this summer (14 days of encaustic painting).  One of the ways I am also trying to work out through process my concept is manipulating the substrate.  In the close up, I cut out and inserted the "Judas Holes".  I like it very much as it works well with the concept of the fragility of memory.

Time Pit Close Ups

Time Pit VI

Time Pit V

Time Pit IV

Time Pit III

Time Pit II

Time Pit I

Splitting Up the Panels

If you look at the February entry on this blog you can view the originally placed together work for the WIP show.  I've now split the sections up and each series is much stronger for it.  The series titled "Time Pit" visually moves along the horizontal orientation as with memory each image is individual yet part of a larger whole bridged to one another as all the victims are bound/intertwined to one another yet separated by both time & memory.

Been Awhile ... Let's Catch Up

I've been balancing work, family, and some hand issues (from car accidents) this semester so time management has been kicking my a$$.  Since the Works In Progress show in February I have been spending some time putting together my committee as well as having a guest artist visit my studio.  In the process speaking with Alf Ward and Shaun Cassidy (along with Taro) helped me step back and look at my most recent work which I had been struggling with.  

The pieces in the show looked good visually but still had real issues of relationship to the disparate pieces (groups) as well as the concept.  It was Alf's discussion with me that really cinched what was the problem - I split the larger works from the smaller works and the combining of those groups with each other helped me both visually (process-wise) and conceptually.  So I am able to work more in line with both my original concept and exploration of the materials which was causing so much concern earlier in the semester.

In addition to the my artwork, I have been inundated with anatomy and figure pedagogy class. Putting together my "teaching figure I" book is actually been very helpful with the anatomy class.  My hand/arm issues have caused me much stress in trying to create the armature for anatomy with the plasticine being much to hard for me to adequately use the material.  I have also had to slow down on the drawing as well but have found ways to compensate and as such I have also started the large scale figurative drawings to use as preliminary work for the large panels I hope to start and work on over the summer.