Friday, February 29, 2008
Goodbye, Dolls
A photo of dolls en route to Salvation Army.
For many years, I made paintings of my dolls, while collecting at least 500 specimens. Now in the process of sorting through and dispersing the collection, I experience both relief and a sense of poignancy saying goodbye to such a huge part of my painting life.
Above, the painting Night Fools, in honor of the departed dolls.
Preparing for my exhbition Seuss Dynasty at Dorsch Gallery that opens April 12th, I have been pondering: What is Seuss Dynasty? Yesterday I realized Seuss Dynasty is the aggregate of places I have been, the aesthetic layers that coalesce in my work and simply, where I am. Right now, Florida. The old wood shed faded green, cactus run amok with rare flowers, bare tree silhouettes embellished with ball-shaped seed forms and raking white light. Layered into this, the tree next door in Brooklyn (where I can only see the top leaves, because the bottom window is opaque), the row of pine trees in front of Yaddo's pool-house, the manicured trees in Taipei and Taichung and...what to come? On my way to the studio now.
