JAY BURTON TRACY | Works on Paper
first studies : detail #70 (from The Ruined Sky), 2015
water-soluble polyurethane, digital ink on thermogenic drawing
mounted on museum board
5 x 7 inches | destroyed in 2020
mounted on museum board
5 x 7 inches | destroyed in 2020
first studies : detail #266 (from The Ruined Sky), 2016
oil-soluble varnish, digital ink on thermogenic drawing
mounted on museum board
5 x 7 inches | destroyed in 2020
mounted on museum board
5 x 7 inches | destroyed in 2020
detail #210 (from The Ruined Sky), 2016
digital ink on thermogenic drawing
mounted on museum board
6 1/2 x 4 1/2 inches | destroyed in 2020
mounted on museum board
6 1/2 x 4 1/2 inches | destroyed in 2020
first studies : detail #74 (from The Ruined Sky), 2015
water-soluble polyurethane, digital ink on hand-folded thermogenic drawing
mounted on museum board
7 x 7 1/2 inches | destroyed in 2021
mounted on museum board
7 x 7 1/2 inches | destroyed in 2021
first studies : detail #155 (from The Ruined Sky), 2016
water-soluble polyurethane on thermogenic drawing
mounted on museum board
5 x 7 inches | destroyed in 2021
mounted on museum board
5 x 7 inches | destroyed in 2021
in 2015, i discovered that the new (second)
major series of thermogenic drawings i was
developing could be augmented and altered
by selectively applying certain solvent-based
paints, emulsions, and varnishes to
the exposed recording paper.
any mark or gesture made on an already
completed thermogenic drawing could
be chemically "reversed" or even fully erased.
in the exact same moment, new spatial, textural,
and chromatic details could be introduced.
in the ensuing protracted period
of discovery, a fresh and welcoming
window on a new personal/visual/material
vocabulary flew open.
because this range of discoveries
allowed me to "resuscitate" unsuccessful
drawings, i came to think of what i could
now do as roughly equivalent to REDACTION.
it was as if i had been given an opportunity
to take back any assertions previously made.
although this was only metaphorically the case,
it was the manipulation of a material's chemical
responsivity i saw as analogous to abrading
a pigmented coating in order to reveal
its relationships to underlying
surfaces or supports.
i had found yet another way
to work the seams inside
the stratigraphy of damage. |
major series of thermogenic drawings i was
developing could be augmented and altered
by selectively applying certain solvent-based
paints, emulsions, and varnishes to
the exposed recording paper.
any mark or gesture made on an already
completed thermogenic drawing could
be chemically "reversed" or even fully erased.
in the exact same moment, new spatial, textural,
and chromatic details could be introduced.
in the ensuing protracted period
of discovery, a fresh and welcoming
window on a new personal/visual/material
vocabulary flew open.
because this range of discoveries
allowed me to "resuscitate" unsuccessful
drawings, i came to think of what i could
now do as roughly equivalent to REDACTION.
it was as if i had been given an opportunity
to take back any assertions previously made.
although this was only metaphorically the case,
it was the manipulation of a material's chemical
responsivity i saw as analogous to abrading
a pigmented coating in order to reveal
its relationships to underlying
surfaces or supports.
i had found yet another way
to work the seams inside
the stratigraphy of damage. |
goldsmith blocks studio (portland, oregon)
