Wrapped Paintings

Sometimes art is about accidents. The first painting instructor I had was the artist Malaika Favorite my sophomore year in college. It was my 3rd and last semester at LSU, before I transferred to UNO back home in New Orleans. I wasn't officially an Art major at the time. I started as a Theatre student, and I think I had changed to Communication. I changed again to a History Major when I started at UNO (and then changed several more times). Students were supposed to take several prerequisites (basic drawing, figure drawing, and design fundamentals) to be enrolled in this painting class, but I signed up anyway and through error or negligence on their part, they placed me in the class. The first couple of classes involved getting required materials, going over the syllabus, and participating in some warm up drawing exercises. While we were drawing some basic objects that were arranged around the painting studio. Malaika walked around the studio and stopped where I was working. She observed my untrained lack of skills and said "you don't know how to draw." I didn't. She paused, and then proceeded to work with me. Over the course of the semester, we did several still life paintings using different color and drawing strategies. I had been painting for a couple of years, but I had never attempted to paint from observation. So, these assignments were a struggle for me. Still, it was the class that I looked forward to the most. One day towards the end of the term, we were starting a new painting, and when I arrived, all the good spots were taken. I set up my canvas by the sink where everyone washed brushes. It had stains and splatters as one would expect, so finding it interesting, I proceeded to paint the sink. Malaika walked up and paused, looking without speaking as she often did. Then she said, "you're painting the sink." She proceeded to show me how to handle the perspective of the sink and the elyptical characteristics of the pipes. It ended up being my most successful painting of the semester. My drawing and painting skills improved exponentially in that class, certainly because I tried, but also because I had a pragmatic and engaged instructor. She never asked if I belonged in the class, rather, she met me at my level, and gave me what I needed to excel. A year later I was at UNO taking the introduction classes that I skipped to take that painting class. I'm not sure that I would have finished with a degree in painting if I hadn't had success and encouragement in that class.

Like the sink painting, my series of wrapped paintings started by accident but proceeded with struggle and informed adjustments. My mother is always accused of being the junk magnet, but my father was perhaps more aggressive about it. He bought an entire inventory of frames from this guy named Scotty who did framing out of his garage. He intended for me to use the materials to frame my drawings, which I did on a number of occasions. I also used a few of the smaller frames for paintings that I inserted and included the frame as part of the image. One day in my studio I began experimenting with a frame, wrapping it with strips of canvas and wire. I started a couple more, but they sat in my studio for a long while not proceeding.

When I get stuck in the studio, I move on to other paintings, or take time to consider other artists. I looked to Eva Hesse, whose works use unconventional and industrial materials. They are expressive and explore the nature of sculpture and installation. Several of her sculptures sort of act like paintings, in that they hang on the wall. These however violate the idea of a traditional picture plane. New Orleans Artist, Hasmig Vartanian, whose work I have encountered and enjoyed as an installer, challenges the idea of traditional painting formats. She creates elaborate often totemic tapestries and constructions that hang like paintings but challenge the notion of paintings being two dimensional. Finally, I once again learned from Malaika Favorite. I wanted to thank her for guiding me as a young artist, so in the process of looking her up, I discovered her art. She creates colorful and dynamic paintings and constructions that echo the shape of the body and architectural forms. Her bold figurative gestures inhabit these structural and irregular forms in a vibrant narrative.

As I approached my wrapped paintings again, I considered them like I was learning to paint again. Canvas and paper are normally a surface to mark on. I considered each strip as a mark or brushstroke. My process generally involves utilizing a variety of abstract marks and gestures to create spacial relationships. The wraps combined with painted and drawn marks, however, formed a three dimensional space sculpturally rather than with perspective. Slowly a series of wrapped paintings emerged that felt true to my aesthetic. The gestures stacked in layers of canvas, paper, paint, ink, pencil, wire, string, and rope. Like years ago, in that first painting class, I encountered a level of discomfort. A new process left me on unsteady ground. Where I ended up wasn't where I intended. Painting is about trusting the process and working through challenges.