ARTWORK > STAIN PAINTINGS

The flowers on mattresses are there, I think, to distract us from our bodies and the messes they make. These paintings on found mattress fabric re-train our eyes on the stains, the losses of control, and the worn quality of the surfaces, bucking conventional symbolisms and associations with the floral while still engaging with their presence.

Found stains structure the compositions and are foregrounded as authentic moments of gestural expression against the more mechanical and misleading patterns. In a modernist ideal of painting, the hand's "mark" or gesture is privileged as the part of the body that conveys the expression of the author. In these paintings, however, it is the body itself--and its instinctual functions--that reveal the essence of our "nature".

Shamokin Dam Lace
acrylic & oil on found mattress fabric over stretcher
24" x 12"
2014
Lewisburg White Lace
acrylic & oil on found mattress fabric over panel
27" x 19"
2014
Lewisburg Bouquet (White Fade)
acrylic & oil on found mattress fabric over stretcher
44" x 32"
2014
Gainesville Pinks
acrylic & oil on found mattress fabric over panel
24" x 18"
2014
Lewisburg Lace
acrylic on found mattress fabric over stretcher
24" x 24"
2014
Lewisburg Veil
acrylic & oil on found mattress fabric over panel
24" x 18.5"
2013
Lewisburg Rococo
acrylic & oil on found mattress fabric over panel
36" x 24"
2014
Lewisburg Morning Sickness
acrylic and oil on reclaimed mattress fabric
44" x 32"
2015
Shamokin Dam Quiltress
acrylic and oil on stained mattress fabric stretched on panel
44" x 38"
2015
Lewisburg Vines (Classic Rest)
acrylic & oil on found mattress fabric over panel
36" x 24"
2015
Johnson City Old-Time
Acrylic, oil, & existing stain on reclaimed mattress fabric over batting and panel
32" x 22"
2013
Gainesville Stain
acrylic and oil on stained mattress fabric stretched on panel
36" x 24"
2010
Johnson City Bouquet
acrylic, oil, and existing stain on found fabric from box spring
85" x 62"
2013
Johnson City Ghost
acrylic, oil, and existing stain on found mattress fabric over panel
32" x 22"
2011

These paintings have been shown extensively in group and solo exhibitions in cities across the country. For the most part, they were created in 2014-15, although the first one was made in 2010.