Multi-Canvas Figures

David Devore – 2005, 72×36 oil on multiple canvases

Footsie – 2005, 84×72 oil on multiple canvases

Transforming David – 2006, 72×36 oil on multiple canvases

Kisser – 2005, 18×18 oil on multiple canvases

Modern Man - 2005, 36x108 oil on multiple canvases

Modern Man – 2005, 36×108 oil on multiple canvases

This seriesFrom 2004 to 2006, I was creating large scale figurative works that walked the line between abstraction and realism. Chuck Close makes work in this style that has always fascinated me and so I decided to just work in that way directly to see what I could find in the process. Breaking the image into a grid, and then breaking that grid over multiple canvases reinforced the importance of the visual interruption of the image. I took photographs of models, printed them, measured and marked a grid, transferred the information square by square from the photo to the canvas, enlarging it dramatically, and then painting in each square with loose, colorful, thick brush work. This process resulted in recognizable, realistic, figurative images that at their root were made of completely abstract elements.