4:15 PM: after lookiing at the painting while posting an hour ago, i decided that the collaged elements were taking away from the coherence of the composition. the adhesive material was still fresh enough tha i was able easily to remove them; so here’s the current state of the painting.
3:22 PM: today i took skateboarder dancing to another level, introducing a few collaged elements: a piece of map and a cut up ink drawing on paper, which i made last week expressly for this purpose.
it was getting kinda busy and confusing to the eyes. so the white paper with the spare ink marks addresses that and, i think, resolves it. there is no longer a “main figure” of the skateboarder. rather, there are a series of forms, colors and patterns which bring to mind something playful and somewhat enigmatic. i also scaled back the violet skateboard, painting over it with an off white akin to the tone of the skateboarder’s jacket. much of the patterning is drawn from a japanese woodblock print i’ve grown very fond of, and the skateboarder’s patterned cap plays nicely into this mix.
it will be interesting to see what the greek viewers make of it, when my show goes up in march. we reserved our tickets today, which makes the whole thing more solid & real.
skateboarder dancing as it looked moments ago
BELOW: yesterdays version is on the left
