WARPED (or SCULPTURED) CANVASES:

 

I grew up seeing paintings on flat surfaces.  When I went to college to study art, I still saw flat paintings, although I saw some frames that were no longer in squares or rectangles.  But I am first a sculptor.  I see things in three dimensions, and I am most comfortable creating things in three dimensions.

 

One day I looked at the flat surface of a canvas and asked myself, what would it be like to paint on a curved surface?  What would happen if I removed all ninety degree angles?  What if I made a shape that jumps off the wall to change the perception of space?

 

I had to respect the great artists I was studying.  They had used canvas stretched over wooden frames for centuries.  They had used oil paints and later acrylic paints that had maintained their beauty for hundreds of years.  I wanted to use these traditional materials, but I could warp the wooden frames.

 

Starting with 1 x 8 boards, I eliminated all 90 degree angles (including to the wall) and parallel sides to create a form that resembled a figure from Geometry class with depth.  Then I cut curves in each side of the frame, which made each corner a different distance from the wall, and also gave me two frames from one.  Stretching canvas on a frame with curved sides produced an undulating surface to paint on.  But the two canvases I got from the one basic frame did not look like they came from the same frame.

 

So the frames became a study of mathematical relationships and optical perceptions as I tried to create painted objects of beauty that would speak to viewers in some way