The Futility of Banishment (Work in Progress)

Up until this point I have been averse to posting images of works in progress. I suppose that I've wanted to retain the full freedom that obscurity provides, treating each piece as a bit of a secret until completion. Yet, I love looking at progress shots from other artists, so I have come to rethink my approach. In keeping with the new thrust of my blog, here is a peek into what's banging around my easel these days.


Entitled The Futility of Banishment, this painting is part of the Lysis series, which also includes In the Absence of Memory. I first painted this on Friday the 13th, though I'd already been playing around on the panel quite a bit. I've been experimenting with paper collage, though not in the manner of Hannah Hoch and Max Ernst. Instead I'm simply using paper to augment my ability to control the ground and specific images on it. Check out Perpetual Revision to see a different application of this same idea.

A week after the initial session, I spent a tumultuous Friday painting the panel to this state. While I like the added texture and the differentiation of the reds, I feel like I drove the painting into the mud... but it's nothing a paint scraper can't fix. (or at least obliterate)

We'll see where it goes...