DC: De/Constructing Washington
collage
3 x 5 x 1in.
2017
The DC: De/Constructing Washington collages appear to be worm-eaten, a series using vintage postcards of the state capitol. As a metaphor, a closer look by the viewer reveals that below each surface is another ravaged decline of the White House, the State Capital, the Library of Congress and other federal landmarks for example. Barely visible underneath the first layer is another collapsing building and so forth. The reverse side of each postcard has text that is eroded by using a belt sander. These are erasures to eradicate the highly recognizable monuments. Grinding the backside away until the desired effect is achieved is an active form of drawing by reduction. This manner of drawing is opposite to building up an image using graphite or pen and ink. Making numerous curved gestures on the reverse side of the original image stresses the paper until it becomes veil like. A controlled chaos is achieved but carefully eliminates parts of the recognizable image. The gaps or negative spaces are as important as the parts of the image that remain. The final stacked image is complete when it intrusively resonates as an altered portrait of the current political chaos of the present administration.