Leave It All (Behind)

Leave It All (Behind)  22"x 14"  Reclaimed Frame, Lead, Wood.

Bone Sketches

Untitled Bone Sketch (1)  7"x 4.5" Bone and Wood.

Untitled Bone Sketch (2)  8"x 10"  Bone, Wood, and Plaster.

Bone of my Bone  8"x 8"  Bone, Wood, Recycled Frame.

Ta Biblia

Ta Biblia 2014

Gravity, density, and mass, are principals of physics that do not require full knowledge or mathematical understanding to experience. They are general laws of nature that every person is aware of – ever present and undeniable. The surface beauty of this omnipresent brooding power is in the universal nature of the laws, but a deeper poetic beauty is found in the tension and dialogue of their relationships (both law to law relationships and law to man). Further study can then reveal deeper connection and greater reward. I would like to think of my work as functioning in a similar manner – an obvious surface beauty with depths of layered poetics. The intended entrance into my work is through formal means. Come into it as you are. Feel the presence. Read the face value. Be moved or unmoved. But if moved, linger there to find layers of poetry within natural laws.

Blank black pages accumulate into thick bulky books. The 66 books amass into a staggering pile that overwhelms the concrete plinth. The nearly immovable concrete slabs command presence and testify to the weight of the books. Black warmth from tar pages brings attention to cold concrete slabs. Ta Biblia, literally translating to the books, is the greek phrase from which the modern english word bible is derived from. With the very specific number of 66 books, the work engages and questions the lines of divinity inherent in the canonizing process of the evangelical protestant bible. Amassing well over 2,000 pounds, Ta Biblia imposes its questions with an unbearable weight.  

The Serpents

The Serpents: Lead, Transparent Xerox, Flax Sheets, and Gesso. 

Approximately 5.5" x 5.5"

Ta Biblia (Thesis Preview)

Tar Paper, Twine, Concrete, and Steel.

Concrete and Steel Abstraction: Test One

Concrete and Steel.  8" X 10".

Lead Panels

Lead wrapped panels. 24" x 24"

Small Self Portrait

Oil on Board.  3.5" x 5.5"

Custom Made: Collaboration with Jeff Huntington

This is a painting that Jeff Huntington invited me to collaborate with him on.

Custom Made
Magazine Clippings, Acrylic and Oil on Board.

Erosion as Accumulation: Part Two

Concrete, Glass, and Wire.  Glass & Gravity Pedestal by James Cole.

The Collapse.

Erosion as Accumulation: Part One

Glass, Lead Sheet, and Tar Wash

Empty Vessel of Empty Calories

I am sending this work to be in a show in Milan Italy.

Empty Vessel of Empty Calories.  Oil on Canvas.  9" x 7".  

Bridges and Self Portrait

Bridges: Oil over Collage on Board.  9"x9"

Self Portrait.  Oil on Board.  7" x 7"

Portraits and Obstructions: Part Four

Obstruction:

Portraits:

Portraits and Obstructions: Part Three

Portraits:

Obstruction:

Portraits and Obstructions: Part Two

Painting:

Obstructions:

Portraits and Obstructions

I am working through a pair of portraits with my instructor, Jeff Huntington.  From day three forward he will be generating obstructions on the paintings for me to work around.  

Day One Graphite Underdrawing.

Day Two Oils

Day Three

Day Three Obstruction.

Inheritance: Volume I

Inheritance: Volume I
Travis Wagner 2013

clay from my father's land, cheesecloth, 

thread,  and canvas straps

The accumulation of fragile layers of clay builds to form a solid mass. With an austerity that references the passive yet imposing power of minimalist sculpture, Inheritance: Volume I collects its slow accumulation of mass into a monumental presence without losing its humanly relatable scale. Inheritance: Volume I as an object exists somewhere between the realms of book and sculpture by carrying functioning attributes of both. The constant and present state of decay gives Inheritance: Volume I an ephemeral quality that calls to mind the cyclical patterns of life and death. The clay on each page ultimately breaks down and returns to the earth.

Inheritance is defined as the passing of material and non-material properties from one generation to the next. Both good and bad pass through the lineage of a bloodline. Wealth and debt, dispositions to intelligence and talent as well addiction and disease, all are bestowed from father to son. Collectively, each generation receives as birthright the debts and fortunes of their successors. Our collective inheritance includes every scientific advance, discovery and masterpiece as well as every horrific injustice, from the crusades to the holocaust to slavery, and every stop in between. Inheritance: Volume I allows for reflection on the ownership of both personal birthright and collective legacies.