A friend gave me an old superyacht sail to experiment with. I knew I wanted to use it as a surface for painting but initially was not sure how to best use the sail in my scheme. I brought the rolled up jib to a meeting with my mentor, Dana Clancy, and there she had some powdered charcoal in her office. We unrolled the jib on the floor and started to pour some of the crushed up charcoal onto the sail. Then Dana suggested why don't we try erasing away what we have put down.
At home, I cut some decent sized pieces of the sail and used a brush to spread the powdered charcoal across the sail. I then erased away the crests of the waves to create a semi-abstract structural landscape.
I created a large study of the type of sea I want to make for my final large piece of Erica. Using layers and working on the floor I was able to mix several mediums (galkyd, linseed oil, and gamsol) to pour over my oils and create a washed wave effect. The piece is dramatic, energized, and with the help of all the gouache studies I produced, finally integrating a watery atmosphere into my oil paints.
I further experimented this effect on the sails but found that the technique has no effect on the material. To better explore my possibilities I tried sanding back some of the oils from the sail but that as well did not produce lasting effects for the piece.
Dana showed me some Seurat graphite drawings of the figure which are very suggestive in their forms. I wanted to make a similar compositions using the charcoal and the erase away technique with Erica on the sail. Her figure is less refined and reminds me of Poseidon's horses emerging out of waves in classical statues, physically connected to the landscape she is in.
With this I am exploring the painting as sculptural object and bringing a connection to the boat with a sail that was quite literally ripped off from the pressure of the wind.