Hanging Directives
Series

These works are part of an ongoing series I call Hanging Directives. Each spawn from an interruptive frame of mind where I felt a gravitational pull of being stuck or unable to contend. The cycle of expectations I put on myself as an artist and educator—the doing, making, tasking, presenting, etc. never really reaches a finality, and in turn, these works considering my process and experience as a maker never feel fully finished. 

While sketching, I often get lost considering the paradox of all the “ings” entwined in our lives. Without them we don’t progress, but with them we are bound laborers failing that freedom seeking creative spirit that got us started in the first place. The time spent making these works feels less dignified than other aspects of my practice, but they’ve become necessary interruptions to other projects. Their construction feels like artistic penance, offering levity from my artist self-judgement and release of pressure from that ever-present valve attached to my creative headspace.

In the conceptualization of any Hanging Directive, I’m aware of its ironic gift; once I think of one, I have one more thing left to do.