Soulmates - Playing matchmaker with beautiful refuse

As an artist, the first thing you consider is what you bring into the world, primarily, the art you're creating. But for me, the waste being generated is always on my mind as well. I take every opportunity to filter and evaporate my rinse water, reuse the material left behind, and dispose of anything unusable in a way that's respectful to Mother Earth. 

Since I stumbled upon the processes involved in my Schema collection, I've also saved the masking tape used to create my shapes and compositions. This tape took the form of "Tape Monsters", gangly piles of loosely adhered tape bits that resembled The Blob from the horror films of my youth, but far more vulnerable. My studio is haunted by these playful apparitions who lurk on it's periphery overseeing my art practice, and coaxing more work out of me. I've housed them in acrylic boxes for display, but primarily they lie in wait for a higher purpose. I like the three-dimensional nature of them, but their frailty makes them difficult to manifest as collectable "artwork". 

As I create my Schema paintings, tape bits stack up haphazardly forming these delicate little beasts. But recently, I decided to carefully place each used bit of tape separate and orderly so they may be used for something more manageable. Something displayable. Framable. Yes, sellable, and collectable. The most functional, ownable form of artwork is a piece that hangs on the wall of a collector, or can be "filed" in a collection of work. Something essentially 2D. Something mounted to a ready-to-hang panel or canvas, or adhered to paper that can be framed and hung. 

The first of these pieces began with the smallest bits of tape and my attempt to form pleasing objects on paper. Relatively quickly, I placed two small pieces of painted tape against one another, which spurred experimentation with juxtapositions of two. As I paired shapes together, I became more deliberate with their placements. I measured out a grid and the numbers of pairings grew, as did the idea. As I began playing matchmaker, I felt a bit like playing God... controlling the matings of these objects themselves created by complete happenstance... creating relationships essentially, hence the title "Soulmates". Partners seemingly bound by fate that would exist in this space forever, merely by the workings of my mind and hands. The numbers were added as a way for me to reference them if I decided to make larger paintings from these compositions. But they also came to represent a somewhat emotionless reference (Just a number) to something so intensely emotional as partnership. A serendipitously engineered bond of "love".

In physicality, these pieces consist of masking tape carefully measured, paired, numbered, and curated, adhered to archival heavyweight paper*. As the bonds we create with our partners, the adhesives may well stand the test of time, but there's a chance that some may separate. Sure, I could apply a coat of acrylic medium over the entirety of each piece to essentially coat them in plastic, force compliance, and bond them together eternally. But I want to reuse material, not consume more new material. And I fell in love how these embody the idea that "art mimics life". These will be living, breathing works of art, that may evolve over time as do our relationships. Sadly, love is not always forever.

To embrace this idea, each of the three unique pieces will be framed with spacers, essentially in a thin shadow box, with space in front of the artwork to give it air. This will allow the mated tape elements to fall away from one another if time decides they should no longer be attached. Errant pieces will land in the bottom inside the frame... alone. If others fall, they may land near one another. If not, a fallen piece may remain alone, symbolic of fallible human relationships. All may stay bonded together eternally, but it doesn't matter how perfect our pairings may seem, there's always a chance they won't last forever. I love the conceptual level this adds to these pieces. It makes them more than artworks on paper. It gives them life, comfort, loneliness, and death.

I posted a story on Instagram to gauge preference for specific frame materials and colors. Ash black, dark walnut and white oak. Dark walnut edged out the competition, but it was not an overwhelming victory. So, I ordered three custom frames, one in each wood. My thought is to photograph them each with one wood frame, and then offer the collector a choice of one of the three. 

As the reel showing the creation of the first of these pieces began to go viral (currently over 1 million views), I started getting direct messages asking if the piece was available, how much it was, etc. Interested collectors were asked to be patient and subscribe to my newsletter for information about when these pieces would be available for purchase. If you're on that list, you'll get an email at least 24 hours before they all drop. 

I currently have three Soulmates pieces completed, and frames usually take about two weeks to arrive. It will take about another week to mount, photograph and list the pieces on my site. I anticipate having these listed and available on my website at 8am PST January 20th.

In terms of price, I'm still doing the calculations. While these are made of leftovers destined for the bin, my process of painting has changed to preserve these materials. The craft involved in creating each piece is no less than anything else I make. The time involved in organizing, designing and curating these pieces is substantial. And the time and materials to frame them appropriately is costly. Please expect a price commensurate with my other work at this size, but considering that these cannot be recreated. There is no original pattern or design that's replicatable. Sure, it's possible to photograph them and make prints. That's still an option. But the originals are completely one-of-a-kind, and their behavior after framing will be incredibly unique as well. 

Sidenote... Each will come with a certificate of authenticity adhered to the back of the piece with archival adhesive, mounted to acid free foam board. I'll share more photos and information as I have it. Thank you so much for your interest in my work and for considering collecting one of these pieces. 

*The heavyweight paper used in creating these pieces is also reused material. I had a half dozen of my original watercolors on display at a gallery in London. The gallerist framed these paintings and backed them with heavyweight paper. These sheets of paper were 16x20 inches, and are what are used in these pieces today. They came from London, lived on gallery walls, and traversed the ocean back to me to end up as artwork themselves.