Black rainbows & Detritus Spectacle - A new collaboration on the go

In the last few months I have created a series of small-scale, 2D collage and mixed-media work referencing our urban landscape. I seem to be exploring the possibility of fusing landscape and the object. My compositions are still composed of paint and found objects, but they are beginning to form shapes that remind me of nests or orbs of some sort. VANCOUVER/VANCOUVER a 2 part exhibition at Gallery 1965 (selected work from Rick Erickson’s collection by Vancouver artists from the last 30 years) inspired this series in a way. During the curator, Micheal Turner's talk, Rick was described as a “rescuer” of sorts. He restores buildings as his profession, and by collecting local art, he helps (and in many cases, rescues) artists. I wouldn’t call myself a rescuer in the same sense, but by collecting articles off the street and then curating them into a composition, I feel that I am creating a type of awareness, or telling a story of our landscape and environment. I want to represent the contact we make with the ground, the marks and debris we leave behind.

While Richard Long creates art by walking, this project began with biking. The collaboration with local BMX pro Greg Flag ( http://www.macneilbmx.com/crew/greg_flag/ ) began with a physical recording of the contact the bike makes with the urban surface. Experimenting with different materials, I conducted the biker's route and captured the marks he made on cardboard, paper and canvas, taped to the concrete or rails he uses.
Many of the locations Greg and his team go to are of the forgotten nature. They are parking lots, loading lots, backs of buildings etc.. I find the industrial area between Strathcona and Mt. Pleasant (what was the flatlands off False Creek) that they ride in most intriguing. Considering it’s historical significance as well of it’s present state, these places make rich subject matter. I will continue to use collage and drawing to represent my experience with this project and the landscape that was provided for it.

3 pieces above:
various dimensions, but aprox 9" x 12"
mixed media
2011-2012