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 By Curtis Taylor May 2017 iA 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 ii 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. iii Table of Contents <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">Signature Page </li><li style="flex:1">ii </li></ul><ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">Acknowledgments </li><li style="flex:1">iii </li></ul><ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">v</li><li style="flex:1">Abstract </li></ul>Introduction: Preluded Modularity Section One: Informed Modularity Section Two: Procedural Modularity Printmaking 12612 15 16 18 21 25 28 31 32 Printmaking: Case Study Painting Painting: Case Study Sculpture Sculpture: Case Study Section Three: Philosophical Modularity Conclusion: Culminating Modularity References/Bibliography iv 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. vThis 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. vi 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. 1Section 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 2produced 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 threedimensional 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 3architecture 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). 4Image 1. Alternate Universe, 5” x 20”, Collage, 2016 Image 2. Wormhole, 5” x 20”, Collage, 2016 5Section 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 Frog man’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 6shapes 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 7have 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 8thickness 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). 9Image 4. Dancing Partner I, 15” x 22”, Spray paint, 2016 10 Image 5. Dancing Partner II, 15” x 22”, Spray paint, 2016 11 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. 12 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). 13 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 overcomposing 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. 14

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE Sublime Modularity

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