New Paintings: Day One

I started two paintings this week.  This is the day one progress for each.

a blessing buried

 a blessing buried

flax sheets wrapped in lead envelopes buried beneath the floor of The Corcoran.

a blessing buried

a site specific work from

Travis Wagner

In a space between spaces, a place that is both above and below, lie seven envelopes bearing seven layers of blessings. Earthy brown flax sheets warmly rest within cold lead envelopes. Delicately, the unmarked flax sheets contrast and coexist with the smothering weight and density of the lead. As polar opposites in nearly every way, the two materials are beautifully married into a relationship of vessel and contents, or perhaps, body and soul. As the raw fibers of the flax are beat to a usable paper pulp, it requires the constant surveillance to be certain that the pulp is not over beat. The truest indicator that the fibers have transformed into usable pulp is touch. This necessitates a constant physical contact between the artist and the fiber. Within this constant contact, it is inevitable for a transfer of energy to happen, for a blessing to pass from the creator to the created.

Below the floor and above the ceiling, a space between spaces is often ignored, unexplored, and neglected. From this place, the positive energy that is stored up within the flax sheets, now beneath your feet, can permeate the space. Buried safely and undetected, the blessing can fill the space and pass to the next occupant. The space between a space has become a space that will house goodwill and blessing for generations of students to bare the fruits of a blessing buried.

Building on the body of work I generated with in the presence of a ghost (Fall 2012), I continued to explore the idea of lingering presences and the autonomy of materials. This continued exploration lead me to think about the imposition of a presence. The lingering of a ghost is far different than the presence of a spirit, and a positive energy can be passed without the negative connotations of death or separation. Through lovingly working the materials into objects, I have embedded a blessing into them, and consequently into the studio space. As a site specific work, a blessing buried engages a much more intimate audience than the commonly public works of site specificity. As the work has been buried beneath the floor of my art school studio, it has a limited sphere of influence, and feels much more like a relationship than a lecture or sermon. Instead of sledgehammering an idea from a soapbox on a crowded street corner, a blessing buried will gradually and subtly become a part of the next student who occupies this studio space.  

In the Presence of a Ghost: The Relentless Intrusion of Weeds

In the Presence of a Ghost:  The Relentless Intrusion of Weeds

Flax sheets installed to fill cracks in wall. 12' x 12'

In the Presence of a Ghost

in the presence of a ghost

works by Travis Wagner

What began as an intuitive exploration of materials, this body of work led me to think poetically about the autonomy of the materials. Flax as a paper making fiber exists in a beautifully strange dichotomy of strength and weakness, where the binding strength of the fiber allows for the paper sheets to be pulled as very thin and delicate sheets. Strength becomes a place to be weak. I also very specifically explored the poetic nature of residue, and the necessity of absence to have the said residue. This trail of thought connected several 'object to residue' parallel relationships, namely memory being the residue of an event, and a ghost being the residue of a person.

In the presence of a ghost invokes the chilling notion of sharing a space with an apparition. Rusty shadows of absent objects have been cast over shards of reconstructed glass with a delicate sensibility that summons the warmth of a sweet memory rather than the stifling anxiety that comes from the company of the dead. The residue of objects that once were conjures a faint reference to an abstract landscape, while the layered images give abstruse references to the hauntings of former pictures. The presence of the ‘warm and sweet’ memory lingers in the carefully fashioned book-like objects that have an existence functioning somewhere between artifact and memorial. Their inherent tactility gives life and physical indicators to the haunting of the before mentioned apparition, and you find yourself in the presence of a ghost.

In the Presence of a Ghost

Powdered Charcoal and Gesso Wash on Duralar 

Detail:

In The Presence of a Ghost: Iteration I continued

In the Presence of a Ghost: Iteration I (c) 

Flax Sheets and Found Objects.

In the Presence of a Ghost: Iteration I (d)

Flax Sheets, Glass, Found Objects.

In The Presence of a Ghost: Iteration II

In The Presence of A Ghost: Iteration II

Rust residue over shards of glass.  7" x 16"

In The Presence of a Ghost: Iteration I

I have been working for the last several months on a body of work dealing with the concept of residue.  My explorations have dealt with both physical material and language connection.  Residue is what remains in the absence of an object.  Memory is the residue of an event.  A ghost is the residue of a person.  The ghost is a persistent lingering presence. 

I am calling the body of work in the presence of a ghost.  

In the Presence of a Ghost: Iteration I (a)  

Hand Beaten Kozo Fiber and Found Objects.  12" circular

In the Presence of a Ghost: Iteration I (b)

Handmade Flax Sheets and Rusted nails.  Approximately 3"x 4"