Much of what I am creating is about the material used to make each piece. This elongated figure is built from juniper branches, metal, wire, found objects and cloth. After assembling this piece, I spray painted it blue- the color that I am currently obsessed with.
Upon closer inspection, just about every crack, weathered branch and distressed surface has been highlighted by the paint. You can see where joints have been wired together, how tiny twigs and wire and cloth have been wrapped to form a foot, or how the knee joints aren’t actually even touching, just butted and held together by wire.
After the paint dried, other unpainted metal elements were attached to the figure, offering a stark contrast to the blue paint. Then the ‘weathering’ process started. After numerous watering, paint started to peal off of metal surfaces and rust appeared, then bled onto the painted surfaces.
Why paint the piece? To cover up all the natural elements allows the piece to be viewed for its structure. Why would natural materials, so elegant in their original state, be covered over in every day house paint? Good questions…