Scribble underdrawing—trust intuition—partial masking—limited color palette—confused layering order

             I want to visually represent the conflict between chaos, spontaneity, order and intention, that takes place in my mind. In my process, I will intentionally switch back and forth between these modes. Each piece starts with a scribbled underdrawing that is unplanned and free. While making these underdrawings, I listened to the same album, Interstellar Space, by John Coltrane on repeat because I wanted to capture the raw, spontaneous, and sometimes violent feeling of the album. Additionally, I allowed myself to intuitively represent objects and recognizable things from time to time. I added lines of tape that intentionally play against lines in the scribble and the edge of the page. I also added layers of warm overpaintings, with a limited color palette. On top of this layer of paint, gestural, spontaneous marks were made with paint and body parts. I trusted myself when I felt that a piece would benefit from processes of erasure like washing and sanding. This process of ordering my own chaos is contrasted with a black vertical rectangle serving as a portal through the drawing into Chaos’s void. I want the viewer’s first reaction to be confused and uneasy.

Awards: Silver Key, Scholastic Art & Writing