CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE Sublime Modularity

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE

Sublime Modularity

A graduate project submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements

For the degree of Master of Fine Arts in Art, Visual Arts

Curtis Taylor

May 2017

A graduate project of Curtis Taylor is approved:

______

Christian Tedeschi, M.F.A. Date

______

Lesley Krane, M.F.A. Date

______

Michelle Rozic, M.F.A., Chair Date

California State University, Northridge

Acknowledgements

To Genevieve, All I have earned I owe to you. I could not have done this without your support. You have guided me through this process and kept me sane along the way. Thank you, my love.

Evan, Sophie and Inès, Thank you for all your patience throughout this program. I can’t express how much your understanding has helped me complete this program. Thank you. Mom and Dad, You have always been there for me with encouragement and inspiration. The genetic material to keep me moving and creating is especially appreciated! Monica and Jerry, You have always supported me, even before I knew I wanted to go on this adventure! Michelle Rozic, Thank you for all your support, encouragement. Your expectations have raised the expectations I now hold for myself and made me a better artist. Lesley Krane, You have always been so welcoming and gracious with your support; especially that one time in review when you commented about the absence of my, then secret, abstract prints. Christian Tedeschi, Thank you for introducing me to Googie architecture; an important puzzle piece which opened a new understanding of myself and my art. Samantha Fields, You were instrumental in helping me realize the cyclical nature of my practice, and how all the pieces of my life have informed my work. Tim Forcum, Your encouragement and knowledge of the abstract world helped me become comfortable in my own skin.

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Table of Contents Signature Page ii

Acknowledgments iii

Abstract v

Introduction: Preluded Modularity 1

Section One: Informed Modularity 2

Section Two: Procedural Modularity 6

Printmaking 12

Printmaking: Case Study 15

Painting 16

Painting: Case Study 18

Sculpture 21

Sculpture: Case Study 25

Section Three: Philosophical Modularity 28

Conclusion: Culminating Modularity 31

References/Bibliography 32

Abstract

Sublime Modularity

By Curtis Taylor Master of Fine Arts in Art, Visual Arts

Formally, my work draws from Modernism and Minimalism by utilizing prefabricated industrial materials such as plywood, MDF, and spray paint. Informed by

Mid-Century modern architecture and design, it also contrasts the austere formalism of hard-edge abstraction with the expressive, luminescent color fields of abstract expressionism.

Overlapping stencils cut from prefabricated materials facilitates a modular, mark making process and allows me to establish a visual vocabulary that connects individual prints or paintings in a series. This method of creating enables me to freely react to previous marks, producing fluid, interconnected layers, and quickly compose without overthinking.

This technique exposes intriguing shape interactions that inspire hard-edge, abstract, wall hanging sculptures. These sculptures are integral components of the series as they echo line, shape, and color patterns contained within the prints and paintings.

When included as part of the series and installed with the prints or paintings, they expand the conversation through repetition of color and shape. Because these wall sculptures are reproductions of the original collage pieces generated at the beginning of my creative process, they bring the system full circle.

Introduction: Preluded Modularity

“…the Beautiful in nature is connected with the form of the object, which consists in having boundaries, the Sublime is to be found in a formless object, so far as in it, or by occasion of it, boundlessness is represented” (I, Book 2 S23,)(Kant I. , 1790)

I cannot describe the larger historical or philosophical influences on my practice without discussing the process. Additionally, I cannot describe the influences or the process without discussing the product. As such, it can only be expected that this abstract will serpentine throughout my philosophical and historical influences to create a more cohesive description of my work.

Built around the concept of modularity, or the degree to which something can be separated and recombined, my practice is both constructive and deconstructive.

Depending on the intended concept or content, I am comfortable starting with either method or even employing both methods at the same time. The intuitive deconstruction process is important because it produces compelling, non-referential shapes. I find these shapes compelling for their curvilinear and rectilinear properties that often meet at acute angles causing the viewer to follow the lines and focus on that point of intersection.

These shapes, and the visual vocabulary they create, define my prints and paintings.

Through the constructive phase, I rearrange these shapes to create a sublime tension between awkward compositions and soothing luminescent color palettes.

Section One: Informed Modularity

I have always found great joy in creating. I believe that joy stems from bearing witness to the people I love most, embracing process every day and rejoicing in the completed product. Informed Modularity explores the genesis of my interest in process and materials.

I spent a great deal of my childhood watching my father, a carpenter, move from the planning stages of many construction projects, through the framing stages to finished projects. Because of this, I have gleaned a certain amount of construction understanding from him, which has helped me ideate project designs. More importantly to my graduate project artwork, my interest in raw construction-grade materials and their inherent beauty is rooted in these experiences.

While my father was busy building houses, my mother wrote craft columns, reviews and project instructions for magazines such as McCall’s and Crafts ‘n Things.

Similarly, I watched her progress from start to finish on many projects. While attention to construction detail is incredibly important to my father, the nature of my mother’s work focuses on the aesthetic, finish details of any project. My interest in the “finish” was certainly developed during this time.

My brother and I were surrounded by industrial and craft materials and tools from an early age. From time to time we would receive explicit, direct instruction for our projects, but my parents’ justifiable concern about two young boys using their tools limited their enthusiasm for such encouragement. Leftover construction grade materials usually inspired our creative process, and most of our projects were self-guided and

2 produced using relatively benign tools such as scissors, hammers, and drills. My comfort with these tools and materials from a young age is a major reason why my work resides on paper, wood panels or construction grade products.

I view my works as a dichotomy between historically, gender exclusive activities; industrial craftwork is traditionally the domain of men, while domestic materials fall within that of women. Even though my parents practiced a post-war, traditional division of labor, their individual work was viewed as equal, and as such I place equal importance on both forms of work. I do not view them as mutually exclusive gender domains, and I am comfortable using each as needed throughout my practice. The paper craft (prints, bookbinding, etc.) are produced using domestic tools such as scissors, needles, thread, and cloth while my prints and sculptures are fabricated using industrial tools such as printing presses, table saws, wood planers, and miter saws.

Time and place have also had a meaningful impact on my practice. The 1970s and

1980s were an awkward time in northeast South Dakota where I was born and raised.

Caught between renovation eras, many small towns in this region were still influenced by

Mid-Century Modern design and architecture. Drive-in restaurants with cantilever carports, drive-in theaters, and “outdated” Mid-Century Modern interior designs were part of my everyday life. The influence of these designs, ubiquitous with Mid-Century

Modern shapes and color palettes, is evident in my two-dimensional and three- dimensional pieces.

Travel is another major influence in my work. As a child, one of my favorite family vacation destinations was the Space Needle and Science Center in Seattle,

Washington. Built for the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair and Expo, the exhibits and

3 architecture reflected the technological optimism and design aesthetics of the 1950s

(University of Washington, n.d.). The clean, swooping, “futuristic” lines — a descendent of Googie Architecture (Friedlander, 2008) — intrigued me as did the trapezoidal and ovoid shapes that would blend together through open frame constructions. Family vacations in the Pacific Northwest also introduced me to Tlingit art. My fascination with the ovoid shape, one of the foundational design elements used throughout Tlingit iconography, was sparked during these visits.

Saturday morning programming such as The Jetsons and Lost in Space have also had a large influence on my color palette and aesthetic choices. I was fascinated by these futuristic worlds, with their swooping architecture and ovoid shaped space vehicles. The influence of these vibrant color palettes and seemingly endless backgrounds can be identified in my prints and paintings. Perhaps the most serendipitous modularity in this section of influences is that The Jetsons and Lost in Space were in reruns when I was a child; the original air dates for The Jetsons was 1962-1963 and Lost in Space was 1965-

1968. Every Saturday morning throughout my childhood, I would consume the world of

Mid-Century design without realizing it (Figures 1, 2).

Image 1. Alternate Universe, 5” x 20”, Collage, 2016

Image 2. Wormhole, 5” x 20”, Collage, 2016

Section Two: Procedural Modularity

The historical influences described in Informed Modularity have left an indelible mark on the way I approach making. I do not find it surprising that my first love in art was printmaking, an incredibly process oriented method of production.

One of my first experiences with printmaking was through the annual Frogman’s

Print and Paper Workshop, an intensive two-week workshop that attracts printmakers from around the country. Those who attend this workshop are quite open with their knowledge base and excited to share their love of printmaking with anyone who is interested. Craft and traditional techniques are celebrated by those who attend; many of the discussions, demonstrations, and classes are built around that historical context.

While historical context is often viewed as a necessary starting point, the workshop always includes discussions, demonstrations, and classes built around pushing the discourse of traditional printmaking and celebrating unconventional innovations in the field. These initial experiences and the openness of these printmaking practitioners has encouraged me to identify many other art techniques that are process oriented and use them to make prints. The converse is also true in that I modify printmaking methods to use in other genres of art. Procedural Modularity explains how I combine printmaking methods or use printmaking methods in painting and sculpture in an effort to expand printmaking discourse.

My system starts with creating non-representational, abstract stencils. The shapes for these stencils are not plotted or sketched, but rather intuitively cut from source material. I start only with the intent to make an interesting first shape (non-referential

6 shapes that contain both curvilinear and rectilinear properties), and the subsequent piece is cut in response to the last shape. The source material for the stencils is either rigid chipboard that can be quickly and easily cut with scissors, or plywood materials that can be quickly and easily cut with a jigsaw. Quickly and easily are the key words as I try to capture the energy used in the creation process by accepting imperfections and rough-cut qualities. Because my whole body is used to cut these shapes, I translate these gestural movements to my work similar to artists Gertrude Green or Jackson Pollock. These shapes with their acute angles and sweeping arches are informed by Mid-Century Modern architecture and designs such as those by Charles and Ray Eames and architect William

Krisel. My stencils also draw from hard-edge abstraction artists such as Carmen Herrera, because they are used to create hard edges in my paintings the way these artists used tape to mask and define their painted shapes.

The stencils are then used as the primary shapes in my prints or paintings.

Because each material utilizes a different motion based on the tools required to create it, these stencils transfer the motion of making to my two-dimensional work. The use of stencils allows me to employ printmaking techniques in my paintings. Each series is composed from a unique set of stencils to create a visual vocabulary that is repeated across the individual pieces, connecting each piece to others in a series. This is important to my practice because it enhances the concept of modularity, or the ability to deconstruct and reconstruct systems, in my work.

My graduate project was heavily influenced by materials. Early in this process, the images and compositions were mostly concerned with experimenting with stencil material. This focus has changed as I have become more familiar with the materials and

7 have learned how to manipulate them. Now that I have become familiar with their physical attributes and have created a stockpile of stencils, I can choose stencils depending on content.

If I am embracing the uncontrollable, I will use lightweight material such as chipboard or thin particle board. The air pressure from the spray paint or air brush can lift these lightweight stencils from the surface and move them slightly. When this happens, I simply start repainting the stencil in its new location. I covet this action if I want to accentuate movement in my image or track movement across the page (Image 3).

Image 3. Chasing Shadows series 15” x 22”, Lithographs, 2016

If the content or concept calls for less action, I use heavier material such as

Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF). This material is heavy enough to resist the air pressure from spray paint or the airbrush, and creates weight in the image. Because of the

8 thickness of this material, it is ideal for creating overlapping dissolves that blend layers together. This method creates negative space defined by a hard edge of the stencil that feathers into a smooth gradient, revealing the layers beneath. Often, I will use many light layers of paint and more than one stencil to produce fluid and interconnected layers. This adds to the complexity of my compositions, as the stencils are arranged in a way that they fit together but are not the fit, in that they do not interconnect the way traditional puzzle pieces do (Images 4, 5).

Image 4. Dancing Partner I, 15” x 22”, Spray paint, 2016

Image 5. Dancing Partner II, 15” x 22”, Spray paint, 2016

Printmaking

My modular lithographic printmaking starts with cutting aluminum lithography plates to the same size and shape. It requires the shapes be cut to the same size and the same shape to ensure the images will be registered correctly.

Once the plates have been prepared, I paint an image on the plate. I use the stencils that were previously cut and start arranging them on the plate. This is a quick, intuitive process that only takes a few minutes to establish a minimal composition. I use minimal compositions with each plate because it is just one of the three to five plates I will print together. The minimal compositions and their generous negative space allow subsequent layers to blend with ink from the previous layer and sit directly upon the white paper. This negative space provides an opportunity for the purity and luminescence of each layer’s color to be highlighted. When overprinted, the layered plates create compositions with greater depth, because the repetition of shapes between various layers and the rich depth of color that develops as thin scrims of oil-based printing ink overlap and visually blend.

Once I am satisfied with the composition, I use an airbrush to lightly spray a resist around the stencils (Image 6). I continue to spray until some of the image is heavily saturated with resist and contrasts against the uncoated plate. When printed on white paper, this produces an image with a full range of tonal qualities from black to white.

Image 6. Aluminum lithography plates with spray resist applied. Each plate is created separately from the others, which produces plates with similar shapes yet self-contained compositions. This is an important aspect in my prints, because the finished image has been created by reassembling the self-contained compositions or modules. This self-imposed system prevents the final composition from becoming too tight and static. By creating a system to prevent over-composing any individual plate, I discovered a technique that lets the energy of each plate carry through to the finished image.

After all the resist has been painted and all the lithography plates have been etched, the images are ready to be printed. When the first layer is printed and dry, the next plate will be printed on top of the previous image. The modular nature of these plates allows them to be printed in many combinations. I try to arrange the plates to complement the underlying image, but otherwise there is no prescribed order. I continue this until all the plates have been printed (Image 7).

Image 7. Untitled, 15” x 22”, Lithographs, 2016 Printing layers on top of layers and using inks with various opacities (a process embraced in printmaking) further blends the layering created by this system of printmaking. Thus, this technique creates patterns and visual paths that encourage the viewer to shift fluidly from one layer to the next. This also creates the optical illusion of depth that transcends the surface of the paper and reaches across the series of prints. I plan for serendipitous moments of clarity in the layered composition by not over- composing the individual plates; I anticipate that the layers in the sparsely composed plates will align in a way that leave small portions of paper without any ink. These empty spots become focal points, drawing the viewer’s attention and providing an opportunity for the eye to rest before moving on to surrounding layers.

Printmaking: Case Study

The prints in this section (Image 6, 7) were groundbreaking in my practice. Many of the rules I have established for myself in the modular process were developed during the production of these prints. Expanding on content I had been developing for nearly a year, this modular technique combined process and content together in a meaningful way.

While I was developing content, my early prints were composed of shapes that were often trapezoidal or ovoid and focused on how, or if, their shapes fit in a composition. I was then, as I am now, interested in how the shapes fit together but not as the fit. I approached these compositions from a design perspective and carefully planned them, devoid of any marks made during their creation. While I found them aesthetically pleasing, they did not contain the energy of chance and discovery I desired.

The breakthrough prints in this section advanced this notion of fitting but not being the fit and conveyed the energy I wanted. Creating less planned, sparse compositions on multiple plates and layering these plates established serendipitous compositions that literally featured shapes fitting together but not being the fit.

Embracing a process that enhanced content, I used this technique to help me connect process and content in meaningful ways.

Painting

At the beginning of Procedural Modularity, I described how my early experiences with printmaking shaped my practice. Specifically, I was encouraged to combine printmaking methods, transfer other art techniques to printmaking or use printmaking techniques in other artistic endeavors. It is especially important to expand on that conversation when I discuss my paintings. These are paintings in that I use spray paint or an airbrush to disperse paint across paper, but they are also prints because I use stencils to create reproducible marks.

I embrace the modularity in these hybrid paintings a little differently from my prints. This process is more deliberate, because I plan where the “empty” focal points will be in the finished composition. This deepens the connections between my paintings and prints, because I am working in a similar way to printmaking. In this manner, the white of the paper typically gives the lightest value and provides luminescence for subsequent layers and value shifts.

To prevent forced compositions, I do not plan or sketch; I compose directly on the paper. This elevates the pressure to make perfect compositions, as these are self- contained paintings, and I only have one chance to get it right. The pressure of having only one opportunity is balanced by painting on paper, not prepared canvas; while the paper is high quality printmaking paper, it is still just paper. The preciousness of the painting as an object is lessened, allowing me to take chances I wouldn’t consider if it were another more expensive substrate. While I’m not as loose as Jackson Pollock, I find the following quote summarizes my feelings about my paintings:

“When I am in my painting, I'm not aware of what I'm doing. It is only after a sort of 'get acquainted' period that I see what I have been about. I have no fear of making changes, destroying the image, etc., because the painting has a life of its own. I try to let it come through. It is only when I lose contact with the painting that the result is a mess. Otherwise there is pure harmony, an easy give and take, and the painting comes out well.” Jackson Pollock, My Painting, 1956

After I have noted where to place the focal points, I arrange the stencils, which can be shapes from a previous series and/or prefabricated block-outs such as painter’s tape. The composition is created first with the stencils and/or the blocks-outs, and then I use spray paint or an airbrush to paint a very thin layer over the composition. When I am satisfied with the coverage of paint — a light layer of paint pigment that allows the saturated color of the previous layer and luminescence of the paper to remain visible — I remove or reposition some of the stencils and, in the case of Splendor and Splendors, painter’s tape (Images 8, 9). It is a quick process, as I do not need to wait for the paint to dry to remove the stencils or tape before spraying another layer of paint.

Painting: Case Study

The paintings (Images 8, 9) highlighted in this case study were created after my system had been fully established. I consider them particularly successful because I achieved a luminescent color field that produces transcendental depths that are balanced by shallow, exposed focal points.

I consider this process to be simultaneously additive and subtractive. During the additive process, I build layers of paint on the surface of the paper. With each pass, another layer of paint is added to the previous except where there is some sort of blocking shape (masking tape or stencil) resting on the paper. This push and pull is best witnessed when the block shape is removed and the layer beneath is exposed. The exposed shape is at its most defined until another layer of paint is added, simultaneously adding to the rich, luminous values but also covering the newly exposed shape, subtracting its presence from the composition.

Image 8. Splendor, 22” x 30”, Spray paint, 2016

Image 9. Splendors, 22” x 30”, Spray paint, 2016

Sculpture

Sculpture closes the loop in my practice. The original stencils that established content and a visual vocabulary become the inspiration for my sculptures and low-relief wall hangings. Compelling shape combinations present themselves through this modular composition and are noted, scaled-up, and fabricated from material that expands the conversation of my prints (Image 10).

Image 10. Untitled, 2’ x 7’, MDF, spray paint, 2016

After the shapes have been cut, the surface treatment is considered: should the surface be left as is, painted, or treated with an unconventional approach? Each consideration carries its own content and adds a different context to the work.

I painted the surface of the sculptures in Image 10 using the same color palette as the paintings to accentuate the original stencil shapes. The specific shapes were

21 obfuscated by layering and were not readily visible. The vibrant colors also reflect onto the wall when lit with spotlights; this causes the sculptures to glow off the wall, and the resulting colored shadows reference the printed layers from which they originated. These sculptures become an entry point to my paintings, expanding the conversation beyond the framed work to fill the entire exhibition space.

In Image 11, I have left the pieces with their original white laminate coating. The white shapes reference the obfuscation that occurs when layers of ink or paint are added to each piece, in that they are difficult to see against the white walls of the gallery. The only visible aspect of these sculptures is the reflection of the painted back surface and the shadow cast by the spotlights, eventually blending into the wall behind them. Again, these shadows become self-referential to the prints from which they originated. This sculpture isn’t an entry point; it is an expansion of the conversation of how positive and negative space is utilized in my work.

Image 11. Dubious, Melamine, spray paint, plastic edging, 2017

Image 12 Dubious, (detail)

Sculpture: Case Study

The sculpture featured in this case study (Image 13, 14) expands the conversation of layering. In general, this sculpture references the layers of ink or paint in my two- dimensional work. Specifically, they allude to the materials used to frame my two- dimensional work.

This sculpture was fabricated from the same plywood used to assemble my frames. The plywood was cut into strips; the strips were turned on their sides to reveal their composite layers and then glued together. Using the same technique of enlarging stencils previously discussed, the shapes were then cut from the new sheet of plywood reconstructed from the strips. Because the layers are now in direct view and not covered with a veneer, the viewer is forced to acknowledge the layering. Because of this, my sculptures are the physical manifestation of the cyclical, self-referential nature of my work.

Image 13. Modularity, Plywood, LED's, epoxy, TV mounts

Image 124. Modularity, (detail)

Section Three: Philosophical Modularity

I use intellectual raw materials in a similar way that I utilize physical materials in my creating: cutting and pasting, and creating from the parts that inspire me.

Philosophical Modularity describes an eclectic vision of my practice, which includes elements of Modernism, hard-edge Abstraction and Abstract Expressionism.

“Modernism is not a style. It is not static. It is like French, English, Russian, Chinese or any language. The basic vocabulary—the words—remain the same over time but it adapts to new conditions and new technology. It adds words and enfolds them into the ongoing language.” William Krisel (Heidi Creighton, 2005) “Some commentators define Modernism as a mode of thinking—one or more philosophically defined characteristics, like self-consciousness or self-reference, that run across all the novelties in the arts and the disciplines.” (HOLT, n.d.)

As a core, guiding philosophy, I included these quotes to describe the importance of Modernism in my practice and to the self-referential nature of my prints, paintings, and sculptures. The materials direct the mark-making and the marks reference the materials as well as the energy used to create them. To challenge myself, I looked to incorporate, perhaps not radical, but new-to-me materials and conventions. Modernism also gives me permission to selectively pick and choose from the discourse of several different movements and philosophies. I embraced this notion to add to the discourse of

Modernism and the other philosophies that have inspired me.

Perhaps the most visibly identifiable influence is rooted in Abstract

Expressionism. The blending of layers through modularly printing and stacking stencils shows the hand of the artist. I use saturated color — process color ink, vibrant spray paints and airbrush pigments — to produce a rich, luminescent depth through layering

28 and create shapes that emanate their own light as the colors reflect off the wall and cause the sculptures to “glow.”

Abstract Expressionism is less apparent in my hard-edge, abstracted wall sculptures. The hard edges, and clean smooth surfaces hint at a Minimalist or Finish

Fetish sensibility, but the surface and edges of the cut shapes, made with my hands and the tools used to cut them, are evident. I could square up the shapes, clean up the edges and buff the surfaces, but that would hide the energy used to create the sculptures. A tension is created when the energy used to create the sculptures is visible; it adds motion to the piece, suggesting it is trying to break free from the wall.

My practice diverges from traditional Abstract Expressionism by using actual lighting, which creates a physical, luminescent color field. Colored gels on spotlights cast pigmented light across the shapes and create soft blended color shadows across the wall.

Whether the sculptures are LED back lit or highlighted by color gels on spotlights, the illumination activates the negative space on the wall around them. As with the paintings, this is another example of incorporating printmaking concepts — creating layers to enhance the content — in another medium. The shadow layers cast an ephemeral, shadow “print” on the wall that creates the illusion of depth that transcends the surface of the wall.

Hard-edge Abstraction functions as a base component in all my prints, paintings, and sculptures. The stencils are cut from sturdy materials that hold their irregular shapes.

The compositions of all my pieces are based on hard-edged, preliminary collages. These shapes are used as the block-outs to define the edges of the shapes in my prints and paintings the same way Carmen Herrera masked off her paintings. However, the hard

29 edges become obscured in my prints and paintings as the layering blurs the line between edge, shape and space.

Hard-edge abstraction comes into full view when I revisit shape combinations in the earlier prints and paintings and translate them into hanging wall sculptures. These sculptures carry the heaviest burden of concept and content of all my work. As with all my pieces, they are stronger together, but, because of their size, the sculptures are not contained by a frame; they are “naked” on the wall and must be able to stand alone as a completed thought.

Conclusion: Culminating Modularity

The invisible thread that runs through all the individual modules and creates a singular series of prints or paintings is my insistence that I be allowed to draw from many areas of inspiration. This modular pr also emphasizes the cyclical nature of my practice and acknowledges the historical discourse to which I contribute. I credit this eclectic insistence with an almost attention deficit disorder-like behavior of exploring any thought that comes into my mind, sometimes to the detriment of current work. I also credit this proclivity to follow any whim for opening the world of possibilities which led from one spray painted shape on a piece of cardboard to this current body of work.

The visible thread that binds my current practice is the insistence on creating non- referential abstract pieces. This departs from my previous practice which focused on sociopolitical issues. After fifteen years of relying solely on my political outrage for content, I shifted my practice to focus on non-objective, expressionist art. This shift was not a conscious decision, but rather a response to an activity that filled me with anxiety and anger and no longer engaged or fulfilled me. This departure eased that anxiety because I wasn’t constantly surrounded by political outrage. That isn’t to say I won’t include sociopolitical commentary in any future work; for now, I am fulfilled by this new shift.

Through this departure, I discovered a new process and freedom from the emotional disturbances and anxieties the current sociopolitical climate creates for me.

This ataraxia has fueled a creative output I had not known, and is signified by a willingness to experiment and a prolific output.

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