I want the materials and process to determine both action and outcome. Painting is the foundation of my life as an artist, and I continue to draw from it. More currently I incorporate a wide range of materials and break from a two dimensional surface. In my earlier work I used panel and built dimension with oil and beeswax. In my current work, I lay wet plaster over wire mesh stapled to a panel with crumpled newspaper underneath. Once dry I pull up the entire plaster structure and begin working with the newspaper that has stuck to the plaster. Some is pulled off often leaving a transfer of the print and creating a wrinkled surface. Whatever paper is still stuck to the plaster I then burn and tear.
The result is an artifact of an era that is rapidly vanishing. The print on the paper is barely legible and the print that transferred is backwards. The surface is convoluted and reminiscent of a landscape. Edges of the panel are irregular further enhancing the found object quality. How will we gather information in the digital age and what will become of a way of disseminating information that has served us for 400 years?
Marvin Oliver Shaver 2014