Tango in a Brushstroke
Ink, 2013
Various Dimensions
Art 233 Two-Dimensional Advanced Drawing
Ink brushstrokes can give a painting rhythm and movement, depicting the subject’s inner qualities. When this technique is combined with artistic freedom, it allows these inner qualities to expose hidden language and meaning through abstract expression.
As a dancer, this piece shows the moves of a tango dance piece called “Roxanne” performed when I was 17. Tango in a Brushstroke is a series of eight paintings that illustrates the momentum required for dancing through the fluid nature of ink. The ink allows for the representation of the abstract, yet understandable, language that two people use to communicate while dancing. In this piece, I also find it quite permissible to take advantage of the absent background to create harmony using color and value.
The paintings are abstractions of the original dance photographs.
1
Dimensions:
1. 24 x 30”
2. 10 x 8”
3. 8 x 6”
4. 6 x 6”
5. 18 x 12”
6. 22 x 28”
7. 4 x 6”
8. 18 x 12”
4
2
3
5
6
7
8
Timely Death
Ink, 2014
19 x 24”
Art 102 Foundations Two-Dimensional Media
Many times, the process names the art. In this piece, the process is different and slightly intriguing. In this particular piece, the artist does not build upon progress and there is no opportunity for manipulation or correction.
The process begins with an invisible water background. At the moment the medium—ink—is strategically applied to the canvas, the piece starts to form itself. Trusting the few brush strokes that took place seconds before, the artistic vision comes to life during the time in which the water allows the ink to flow through the surface. Giving place to the unplanned, just a couple of simple but precise strokes are necessary to guide the ink and form the shape of a skull.
