The Materiality of the Spiritual

This year I have been interested in the ways in which art reaches beyond itself and approaches a sort of universality, a spirituality. Beyond imagery itself, there is the concern of material, which is the focus of my recent exploration. For this project, I investigated how a work’s substrate enhances its imagery in the pursuit of a spiritual dialogue/ interaction between art and viewer. I experimented with paper, cardboard, canvas, wood, plaster, and concrete; I learned that each has a wide range of uses and effects, both historically and in my studio practice. Although I had originally thought of material as a purely formal concern, I realized that there is more that goes into creating a harmonious balance between form and image. I went into this project assuming I would end with a decisive aesthetic formula relating the aim or concept of my work and my imagery to the materials, but that was not the case. Instead, this project forced me to consider the ways in which material can be used for various purposes, and how to better understand what type of substrate might best enhance the type of imagery I am looking to use in my work.