CHROMA: RED

Beginning in 2019, encaustic artist Caryl St. Ama, painter Margaret Lazzari, mixed-media artist Nancy Kay Turner and I began a collaborative project using color as a commonality. As part of the Hana Kark Collective we each worked independently to create 25 birch plywood panels, 6” x 6” each, in each primary and secondary color. We started with blue, intending to work our way through the spectrum. Without a clear idea of how we would ultimately assemble the work, or where the process might lead us, we began. We had our first exhibitions of the work, mid-process, in September 2019.

The fourth color in the series is red. While working on the green series I became interested in telling a story through found objects. As part of my buy-nothing-new commitment I began repurposing old books as sketchbooks, one of which, “The Story of the Irish Race”, belonged to my grandfather. As I was gessoing the pages to use as a sketchbook words popped into view that caught my attention. I wondered how the paper would respond to stitching. I quickly amassed a thick stack of images which I tacked onto the plywood panels with copper tacks. I’ll be interested to see how they age as the copper oxidizes over time.

The stitched pieces are tacked to 3/4” baltic birch plywood with copper tacks. Click on the images below for a close-up view and detailed description.