The Frame Paintings

This series started like most of mine do: unintentionally.

​I got a set of 7 frames donated by a great friend and collector of my work (a topic for another day: Donate your surfaces and supplies to artists you like). Frankly, I planned on using them as nothing more than simple black frames for a yet-undetermined future show. After I got them home i realized I had moved the majority of my art to the storage unit due to the flood and would have to tote the frames over there, or bring a bunch of art back home in order to try them out. Laziness took over and I put it off for a while...

I had them leaning against a pile of art for a few days and managed to catch a glimpse of a painting through one. The main part of the image was well-positioned within the frame with the edges billowing outward with a small strip of the painted canvas visible outside the frame, making the black void even more pronounced in between the saturation. Sometimes seeing a painting out of context brings something to mind that wasn't quite there yet...

I was reminded of two long-standing ideas, neither executed; one involved painting and showing the unkempt canvas borders that are usually stapled and tucked behind the finished canvas. The other modifying a frame to be married to the artwork. I've done these in minor ways, but never intended from the start. I realized I was presented with the perfect opportunity to try these out and could make it into series rather than a random one-off that would contrast with other paintings, positively or negatively, in whatever future show in which it might be included.

Now, I realize it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea. A frame is meant to contain an artwork and provide it an area to live, separating it from its surroundings. A finished painting, traditionally, at the very least has clean edges if not a contrasting frame. This is a bit "messy" and "unfinished"...but then again I've never been one for refinement...Here, I am purposefully breaking that barrier, challenging the frame's effectiveness or purpose in the first place. In a lot of my painting I use windows and frames as tools to break up space. I think this is an extension of that made literal. The frame is no longer a frame of paint, but a painted frame; a barrier but a passable one.

On top of that, I think it brings an interesting conversation to the viewing process. Like most art one will likely start with the image itself, but as they move around the painting they will find connections between the image on the canvas and those appearing on the frame; some continue seamlessly from surface to surface; some contrast in color almost like opposites; some marks call the frame to the forefront with titles or dates, almost reminding you of the physical frame and the boundaries of the artwork. The viewer then realizes the image continues beyond, extending onto loose canvas that hangs freely from the structure almost like notes or sketches; remnants, in a way, of the paintings creation. 

Follow along as I finish the final 3 or 4 paintings from the series and check back for plans on future showings. Check out the in-progress paintings at the links below and, as always, contact me with questions or inquiries. 

Virgil
Pollux
Circe
Daedalus
Babel