Morass 1, 2009, Mixed media, wood, paper, foam, rubber, ink, ceramic, metal, fiber, variable 96 x 18 x 16 inches
Detail of Morass 1, 2009, Mixed media, wood, paper, foam, rubber, ink, ceramic, metal, fiber, variable 96 x 18 x 16 inches
Detail of Morass 1, 2009, Mixed media, wood, paper, foam, rubber, ink, ceramic, metal, fiber, variable 96 x 18 x 16 inches
Detail of Morass 1, 2009, Mixed media, wood, paper, foam, rubber, ink, ceramic, metal, fiber, variable 96 x 18 x 16 inches
Detail of Morass 1, 2009, Mixed media, wood, paper, foam, rubber, ink, ceramic, metal, fiber, variable 96 x 18 x 16 inches
Morass 2, 2009, Mixed media, wood, paper, foam, ceramic, metal, plastic, fiber, variable 60 x 22 x 12 inches
Corpus
Morass
Morass is like a meandering doodle, a synthesis of drawing and sculpture that converges into a dynamic environment in which line and gravity, light and shadow seem to fluctuate between two- and three-dimensional space.
In 1993 I had the good fortune to work briefly with Judy Pfaff during her installation of Corpo Onbrosso, the inaugural exhibition, at The Rotunda Gallery, in Brooklyn, NY. The gallery was newly designed by Smith-Miller + Hawkinson Architects. It was an exciting sculptural installation within an equally exciting architectural space. It was a wonder to watch her create a world within a dynamic space of white walls, and concrete. Her use of shadow, line, and rhythm were breathtaking. I spent allot of time in that installation silently taking it all in. The freedom in her work, her ability to draw into space were informative for me as a young artist new to NYC at that time.
After graduate school, and living and working in several ramshackle places, I moved into an old knitting factory located in north Brooklyn, where I set up a large studio. The space gave me some breathing room to expand upon the hanging assemblages that I began to create back in 1992 when I first moved to NYC. Morass 1 and 2 are part of that body of work and I think it is fair to say that Judy’s work informed my work, particularly the use of line and drawing in space. Rather than defying gravity, this work tends to emphasize it, like hanging everything on overburdened sculptural gallows.
