Combines

all Pieces 48 IN. X48 IN.
Found materials & Benjamin Moore Paint on Canvas/Panel

THE COMBINES  SERIES BEGAN ONE MORNING IN SOHO, NY AT PEARL PAINT ON CANAL ST. I HAD TWENTY BUCKS TO BUY PAINT FOR A LARGE SKY I WANTED TO DO ABOVE A BEACH. A NICE SKY HAS JUST ABOUT EVERY COLOR THERE IS IN IT. TWENTY BUCKS WOULD BUY YOU ONE MAYBE TWO COLORS SO I HAD TO IMPROVISE. THE IDEA WAS TO FLOUNT THE POVERTY OF RESOURCES  WITH A PROFOUND USE OF ALTERNATE MATERIALS AND CREATE A MASTERPIECE.  BUT THERE WAS ANOTHER REASON TOO: IT WOULD ALSO BE A REFERENCE BACK TO THE PSYCHEDELIC EXPERIENCE WHERE ANYTHING IS EVERYTHING. WITH MY LUCKY MOJO HUMMING I WENT ACROSS THE STREET BEHIND PEARL’S TO THEIR HOME DÉCOR STORE  WHERE I FOUND MYSELF GAZING AT A DSPLAY OF PAINT CHIPS ON A RACK. THERE WAS MY SKY! A WONDERFUL MOSAIC OF PASTEL HUES RANGING FROM LIGHT TO DARK AND WARM TO COOL JUST AS IN A MORNING SKY OVER A BEACH.

I HAD TO MAKE SEVERAL TRIPS TO PEARL TO GET THE 240 CHIPS I NEEDED. THE REALLY GREAT THING WAS THAT IN THOESE DAYS BENJAMIN MOORE USED REAL PAINT ON HIS CHIPS. THE FINISHED PIECE HAD A SKY OF PAINT CHIPS, A SEA OF INKS SOAKED NYLON, A WEDGE OF BLOND COTTON DUCK BEACH AND PIECES OF SANDPAPER FOR DUNES. I NAMED THE PIECE ‘MOTHER OF PEARL’ (HA HA). LATER I ADDED A TINY RED LIGHTHOUSE ON THE HORIZON AS AN AFTERTHOUGHT.

I’M AT JOHN MALLOY’S HOUSE IN THE STUDIO ONE MORNING WHEN I SEE THIS DEER JUST STANDING THERE OUT IN THE WOODS. IT’S LOOKING RIGHT AT ME LIKE WHY AREN’T YOU PAINTING ME?

MALLOY’S WHOLE HOUSE WAS A DISASTER OF HOARDED ITEMS, SOME OF THEM QUITE VALUABLE AND I RECALLED HAVING SEEN A DISPOSABLE CAMERA SOMEWHERE. I FOUND IT AND WENT BACK TO SHOOT THE DEER WHICH WAS STILL STANDING THERE IN THE WOODS. BINGO!

BUT HERE AS WELL, I WANTED TO IMPROVISE TECHNIQUES TO PAINT THE WOODS AND CRUMBLED OLD STONE WALLS AND THE EERIE LIGHT FILTERING THROUGH THE MISTY TREES IN A SPECIAL WAY; WITH MEMORIES OF BACHMANN’S MISTY OPIUM FIELDS ON THE EASTERN FRONT, I  MADE A FOUR FOOT PANEL AND GLUED A HEAVY RAW CANVAS TO IT. HOLDING THE PANEL UPSIDE DOWN ,I BEGAN DRIPPING THINNED B.M. PAINT RIVELETS TO PRODUCE THE BRANCHES AND TRUNKS OF DOZENS OF TREES GOING OFF INTO THE DISTANCE. EACH DAY I WOULD PAINT THE SCENE OUT THE WINDOWS WITH DILUTED HOUSE PAINT. WHEN I CAME BACK THE NEXT MORNING THE PAINTING HAD VANISHED, HAVING  SOAKED INTO THE HEAVY RAW CANVAS DURING THE NIGHT! THIS WENT ON FOR DAYS OF PAINTING UNTIL THE WOODS EMERGED MAGICALLY LIKE WATCHING A PHOTOGRAPH DEVELOP.

I ATTACHED LITTLE CLUSTERS OF SLATE SHINGLES FOR THE CRUMBLED WALLS AND THREE VERTICAL STAINED WOODEN SLATS AS TRUNKS IN THE FOREGROUND. NOW, HOW TO DO THE DEER?…WELL, NEXT DOOR TO MALLOY’S  THERE JUST HAPPENED TO BE A WOMAN WHO DID LEATHER WORK. I WENT OVER AND ASKED IF I SHE HAD A SMALL PIECE OF  LEATHER . SURE , HERE YOU GO- WILL THAT DO?

VERY CAREFULLY I CUT OUT A SILHOUETTE OF THE DOE AND GLUED IT ON THE PAINTING-VOI LA- IT WAS DONE!  I HAD A ONE MAN SHOW OF THE ‘COMBINES’ [A HATS OFF TO ROBERT RAUCHENBERG] IN 2005 .

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