Artist: David Spriggs

David Spriggs uses acrylic paint on sheets of transparent film, then hangs them very precisely to create a layered, 3D image.

I didn't know about him (or Xia Xiaowan who uses a similar technique) when I did my paintillation project (below). The difference is that I chose my material to be deliberately semi-opaque, and I didn't secure the bottom of each sheet so that they would be able to flow a bit.

The securing vs. not securing is interesting, though. Sprigg's pieces--the forms he is actually painting--are not precise and methodical like his installation methods. However, because they are so precise, they sort of disappear anyway (and therefore don't impede the overall sense of movement and intangibility).

Artist: Hilary Wilder

I came across Hilary Wilder's work when I was looking for my residencies. She participated in the Cow House Studios artist residency in 2011, where she made these pieces (using acrylic on paper to imitate wood).

At first glance, there doesn't seem to be much of a connection to the work that I'm making, but I think there is a common theme of 'elevation of the ordinary'. She takes it in a direction that questions reality/authenticity (with an note of humor that isn't too overt). And of course they are beautifully executed and realistic (which they have to be to make the point).

Artist: Kyle Williams

The last post put me on the subject of abstracted landscapes, so then I thought of Kyle Williams (who was one of my art teachers in highschool, and I interned under him at CSMA the summer before last). One of the things I like about this series of oil paintings is the titling (White Arc with Tower, Coast, Falls with Colossal Arc, and Bay with Weather, from the top). I think making titles this way gives just enough information where you can look at the painting again and have it transform--suddenly the negative space in Coast is land meeting the white water, and you see the water tipping over the edge in Falls with Colossal Arc.

Below are two pairs of newer works.

And weirdly there is another connection to the previous post--that he recently did a residency in Iceland.

Artist: Christine Wu

Christine Wu is based in LA, and creates art around what she describes as "people in flux". The echoing is frankly just beautiful--and it works in both the drawings and the paintings.

(I've seen people try to achieve this idea in paint before and have it not really turn out right--something is always off either with the transparency or the fluidity of the composition)

Artist: James Nares

James Nares creates large scale oil paintings with these wide brushes (you can see himself working below, suspended above the canvas). What first drew me to his work was the organic forms, the sense of motion, and how the depth of the form contrasts with the negative space backgrounds. When I found out about his process, his work ended up resonating even more with me.

Some of the ideas I've been pursuing in my own work (sort of starting with my small-scale pen drawings last year) have to do with how repetition of process doesn't just replicate. When you put the same materials/constraints (for Nares, oil paint, a brush, canvas, suspension, and a certain type of form he is trying to achieve) through the same processor (the artist) over and over, you end up with a series of work that is all different.

It's very calligraphic, and in the same way as calligraphy, it has to happen all in motion--you can't go back in with smaller brushes to touch up, otherwise it just ends up looking stilted and wrong.