New Studio:

Surface Part 2: Porosity

Right, right, ok... I realize it has been a bit of time since the last post, I'll work on being more on it, but in the past few my course of action has been focused on being a little more direct with getting the work out. From participating in BOS (Bushwick Open Studios) to trying to sell work on the street, I have been struck by the types of varied information that comes across from the presented work to the viewer/ reader. Even the nature of a blog in self addresses the topic I wish to explore today, Porosity. The opposite of density, porosity explains the nature of an object to absorb or let pass through, perforation even.

When I came to New York and started to work on Canvas, as opposed to the paper pieces above and below, I was immediately struck by susceptibility of the surface, the reason in fact that I started painting figures was solely because of material connection I made between the pores of the skin and the pores of the canvas, trying to painting everything but the figure itself to make that tactile connection. It seems to me that if the raw canvas is indeed embodying the figure as a whole only to be articulated, one could assume the mark to the canvas is in turn the action being done to the body. The rest became a realm exiting between the extremes of romanticization and violence.

So if I'm going to sit here and talk about figure paintings, why show these two eh, right right I got lost myself. Ok, the point is, that one can't expect to approach a blank surface, even priming a surface which negates it's inherent properties is an action not to be disregarded, in fact I think an action more violent than cutting and stitching the canvas which engenders what the canvas is made for. Therefore, these two pieces (above and below) begin to approach how a seemingly homogenous surface, that of paper absorbs and allows materials to permeate its surface under certain condition. Ink bleeds through, gesso sinks into transparency, the graphite pencil embosses, and acrylic just sits, all of which are specific in aesthetic to only this paper. Every sketchbook I have is comprised of different paper that expresses itself uniquely. The fun is finding it.

So in conclusion, the last couple of weeks I have been observing, what properties of the the work is permeable (or interesting) to other people... what is dense/opaque, and what is legible/transparent. When presented in these forms (via street or studio visits), the casualness of these encounters reveals where the eye goes, and what the hand wants to hesitantly touch when your not looking. Anyway, look forward to hearing any thoughts on these topics, hence the nature of the blog...

all the best,
Myles

Play these two simultaneously....

Part 1 reveals the beginning of a series of three paintings. They each share two of the three prints made from gestural marks, divided down the middle. Up till this point, the gestural marks that defined the contours of the bodies existed on the same surface. So I wanted to show the printing process rather than a folding and pleating process. When watching this video, I thought it would be interesting to play simultaneously with Tryptic: part 2 to get the bookends of my painting process.

Part 2 retraces the same approximate shots of Tryptic: part 1, but after the works are in their finishing stages. With some added Cash

Lead (stacked). Lines and Topography

Topography: I was struck earlier, mainly between what seemed to fit for the title of this little video. I was stuck between typography and topography. On one hand topography seemed obvious due to the angle of the camera and way each areas of drawn lines between the will be sewn pleats read as an undulating ground of some map, or the worn tears in dark stockings over skin. However, typography seemed more relevant to me, because each area of drawn lines has its own type. On the top left exists an arrangement of lines following the logic of lightly carefully drawn lines spaced as closely as possible, but on the middle right the lines are drawn fast and darker. The language is the same, but the articulation of the gestures evokes something different for each quadrant. Therefore, do I go with topography that relates to image, or typography which implies process and gesture? Luckily, for the youtube-blog combo I can squeeze out of this jam...do both, and have something to write about.

I'll post the finished image of this drawing on:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mylesbennett/

Drawing on Canvas: 'Lead (stacked)': Initial Pleating

Drawing on Canvas: 'Lead (stacked)'

Recently, I've come to realize the importance of transparency in one's own work, and in my own sort of tunnel vision mode, never realized how opaque my work is at times. Therefore... documentary style... here is the beginning. A series of samples to begin to visually articulate my ongoing (fluctuating) process; hopefully, to enhance the perceptions of tactility - no, a computer didn't make this - within the paintings/drawing.

all the best,
hope you enjoy... my obsession