 I am currently working on drawings for a group show in December at Nucleus Gallery in Portland, Oregon. This is a continuation of an ongoing series exploring chairs, and their lives. It will encompass four, 5 x 7″ graphite drawings: “A Mermaid”, “Talent Show”, “Cloud Watching” and “Even Faster Chair”. I want viewers of this new work to consider the quiet presence that chairs have. Chairs are already humanized with their features referred to as “arms” and “legs”. They live as long and often longer than humans, witnessing us as our lives pan out. In this series, we switch roles and witness them explore in ways I imagine they would if they were sentient.
(above) Preliminary sketch of “A Mermaid” for Nucleus Portland, this one features a bird’s eye view of a chair sinking slowly to the bottom of a pond.
(above) Preliminary sketch of “Talent Show”. I am a scenic painter for the Metropolitan Opera in NYC, and I was recently inspired by a chair that starts the very beginning of this season’s production “Tales of Hoffmann”. In reality, two actors are standing next to this chair as the curtains open, but I love the idea of a massive orchestra accompanying a single chair on stage.
