Hitch
Walter Maciel Gallery
7 September - 25 October, 2019
Continuing with a fascination with geologically dynamic landscapes, my recent series of paintings and works on paper are a study in environmental transitions through abstraction. With a focus on Central California, and the effects of the San Andreas Fault, the dramatic and ever-shifting land is the catalyst for this exhibition, explored through the combination of paint, ink and fabric on canvas, wood panel and paper.
Hitch has as its central focus the Pinnacles National Park, located in Central California. For a previous body of work I explored the southern areas of the San Andreas Fault--Pinnacles, in Monterey County, was originally part of a Southern California volcanic formation near Lancaster, but the strike-slip fault divided this portion and over time Pinnacles has crept 200 miles north to where it is now, due to the Pacific Plate’s movement. Ever continuing its move north, this sublime and out of place volcano remnant, in its current Central California location with its dramatic rocky spires and talus caves, is the inspiration for this exhibition. Intrigued by the displacement of this (once) portion of Southern California and the effects of the Pacific Plate’s gradual hitch north, I’m also excited by the the area’s unique and dramatic rock formations, the giant boulders effortlessly lodged above the walkable dry gorges and the network of bat filled caves that is part of the experience of this curious place.
In my work I process the unpredictable natural manifestations and surprising juxtapositions that I have observed by physically composing and manipulating materials. I begin by painting and staining various fabrics with ink and acrylic paint. The liquid pigment on fabric parallels the powerful geological processes my work explores. In some places the forms are dense and saturated while in others the pigments seep and splash. Once painted I cut the fabric in to strips and imbed them in more layers of paint and ink, sometimes sewing the fragments together, to create striated compositions.
Like tectonic plates pushing past one another, the fabric bands, sewn together or collaged, are offset to create fragmented forms that mimic the kinetic energy of natural processes. The disjunction of forms also allows me to explore multiple perspectives at once, simultaneously capturing what is above and below ground. The discontinuous bands of fabric suspend and intertwine different moments in time. Evidence of the effects of the San Andreas Fault, running the length of California, are both seen and unseen and are in no way complete. This incessant movement and transformation of our environment, with peculiar displays, outcroppings and displacements, as is the case with Pinnacles, continues to captivate me and is the driving force for Hitch.
Walter Maciel Gallery
7 September - 25 October, 2019
Continuing with a fascination with geologically dynamic landscapes, my recent series of paintings and works on paper are a study in environmental transitions through abstraction. With a focus on Central California, and the effects of the San Andreas Fault, the dramatic and ever-shifting land is the catalyst for this exhibition, explored through the combination of paint, ink and fabric on canvas, wood panel and paper.
Hitch has as its central focus the Pinnacles National Park, located in Central California. For a previous body of work I explored the southern areas of the San Andreas Fault--Pinnacles, in Monterey County, was originally part of a Southern California volcanic formation near Lancaster, but the strike-slip fault divided this portion and over time Pinnacles has crept 200 miles north to where it is now, due to the Pacific Plate’s movement. Ever continuing its move north, this sublime and out of place volcano remnant, in its current Central California location with its dramatic rocky spires and talus caves, is the inspiration for this exhibition. Intrigued by the displacement of this (once) portion of Southern California and the effects of the Pacific Plate’s gradual hitch north, I’m also excited by the the area’s unique and dramatic rock formations, the giant boulders effortlessly lodged above the walkable dry gorges and the network of bat filled caves that is part of the experience of this curious place.
In my work I process the unpredictable natural manifestations and surprising juxtapositions that I have observed by physically composing and manipulating materials. I begin by painting and staining various fabrics with ink and acrylic paint. The liquid pigment on fabric parallels the powerful geological processes my work explores. In some places the forms are dense and saturated while in others the pigments seep and splash. Once painted I cut the fabric in to strips and imbed them in more layers of paint and ink, sometimes sewing the fragments together, to create striated compositions.
Like tectonic plates pushing past one another, the fabric bands, sewn together or collaged, are offset to create fragmented forms that mimic the kinetic energy of natural processes. The disjunction of forms also allows me to explore multiple perspectives at once, simultaneously capturing what is above and below ground. The discontinuous bands of fabric suspend and intertwine different moments in time. Evidence of the effects of the San Andreas Fault, running the length of California, are both seen and unseen and are in no way complete. This incessant movement and transformation of our environment, with peculiar displays, outcroppings and displacements, as is the case with Pinnacles, continues to captivate me and is the driving force for Hitch.
All content on this site © Cynthia Ona Innis, all rights reserved.