“An artist's only concern is to shoot for some kind of perfection, and on his own terms, not anyone else's.” ― J.D. Salinger, Franny and Zooey
Today I started a new body of work that is titled "If my body were paper and bones", all of the pieces will be painted on paper. Before I began this new journey I created a playlist consisting of Max Richter, The Black Atlantic, The Helio Sequence, Peter Broedrick, Birdy, TV on The Radio, The Lighthouse and the Whaler, M83 and Sigur Ros to bring my ears to ease with the world.
I began to tape paper to a piece of plywood to create a flat surface so the paper doesn't warp to bad and to create edges or a frame to the piece. My head started to choose an ocean of color for my brushes, knives and fingers Peter Brodericks "I Am Piano" began to fill my studio (from the It's Starts Here album) and I was immediatly wisked away to someplace else. My imagination took hold of my senses and as I felt the paper I began to wonder about our bodies, our lives here on this earth.
We are merely flesh and bone. Our bodies are broken, torn, weathered and fleeting. My mind was picturing self as paper, a scultpure of paper and bones. As Peter Broderick sang "I am Piano", I played a flim in my head, (transformation):
...(as film flickers apear on the mental screen) my body is now paper, a figure mashed together with pulp that has dried over time, easy to tear, bending when wet, unrecovering from fold. I moved with the sound and was pressured by the wind, soft and peeling at the edges. Movement was difficult yet flawless, as momentum set in wrinkles from folds began to manifest across this figure, clean yet stained. A journal written, yet erased, scratched out, but pages adding by the minute.
(Back to now)
If we were paper and bone could we tear off a sheet when we needed to start over, or would we continue to try and create something beautiful out of the mess?
This is my mind. This is my world.
[vimeo=https://vimeo.com/35333323]
To View this body of work please visit http://www.samo4prez.com or http://www.etsy.com/shop/samo4prez?section_id=12457081