Works on Paper

On paper, I explore the mark-making possibilities of the found metal originally intended for incorporation into my sculptural work. While the medium is different from clay, the approach to creating is the same—one of experimentation and partnership with materials. This has grown into a fertile artmaking practice that continues to surprise me and to teach me through four related series: This Corrosion, Atlas, United States Geologic Survey (USGS), and Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF).

This line of inquiry began with the corrosion of a single street sweeper bristle onto paper using lemon juice. Investigating the how and why of the process of rusting (oxidation), I was fascinated by the idea that the stains left behind were in effect the iron in a liberated form, and soon began experimenting with catalysts including salt solutions and common household acids. With each successive “printing,” iron is transferred into the fibers of the paper, until the metal object has disintegrated.

The images emerge over days and weeks, with gravity, humidity, and rate of evaporation defining the colors and textures. The hydrophilic quality of salt ensures that the works are never truly finished. Despite being treated with fixative, the salt and paper continue to absorb and  release water from the air, resulting in a subtly and slowly changing surface.

Existing somewhere between drawings and prints (and in some cases, low-relief sculpture), each work seeks to reframe destructive moments as sources of unexpected beauty and possibility.

Descriptions at right; image gallery below.

In the ongoing series This Corrosion, I explore themes of impermanence and transformation, capturing on paper the interactions between iron, water, and time. Often associated with neglect, weakness and danger, rust and corrosion are celebrated here for their promise—the eventual disintegration of the whole that is necessary for change.
An exploration of duality, Atlas presents side-by-side the results of of different fluid applications on metal objects of a relatively similar size.
This series is inspired by the oversized topographic/shaded relief maps of the planets produced by the United States Geological Survey.
I find those images particularly poignant because they are reminders of our own insignificance and how much we'll never know or experience during our brief time on the planet. Equally mysterious and humbling phenomena can be found much closer to home; in the ordinary, in the discards, in the forgotten.
Taking the USGS concept further and smaller, the ongoing Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF) series is inspired by NASA's Hubble Ultra Deep Field capture—which until 2023, was the deepest image of the universe ever taken. It has been used to search for galaxies that existed between 400 and 800 million years after the Big Bang. To me, it is close to a religious icon, not unlike the Geological Time Spiral graphic produced by the United States Geological Survey.
From NASA's website:
In vibrant contrast to the rich harvest of classic spiral and elliptical galaxies, there is a zoo of oddball galaxies littering the field. Some look like toothpicks; others like links on a bracelet. A few appear to be interacting. These oddball galaxies chronicle a period when the universe was younger and more chaotic. Order and structure were just beginning to emerge.
In the same spirit of universal trial-and-error and limitless possibility (see also the Cambrian explosion), street detritus such as paint can lids, gaskets, and fence post caps are corroded onto 100% cotton paper, leaving behind a unique textural and visual trace of process and emergence.
Works in this growing series capture and make visible two invisible forces: magnetism and time.