During the Winter Residency for Transart (held here in New York City) we visited Printed Matter, an art-book store on the West Side. We were free to peruse the shelves for a few minutes where I came across a book titled Some Monsters Loom Large by Mark Thomas Gibson. I couldńt tear myself from this volume and so had to purchase it.
The book is a graphic (comic-book-esque, pen and ink) depicted story of a wolf-man that includes commentary on colonialism, the idea of Manifest Destiny, and the biblical concept of the Rapture.
Currently, I am in the middle of pulling together my research paper that deals with race and figuration. In between thinking about and composing this paper, I am still painting portraits (I have a sitting on Tuesday which will probably be discussed in my next blog). But between researching and outlining the paper and continuing my portrait work, I have begun working with ink and brush on paper: small compositions mostly culled from images pulled out of my photo albums. I am also very attracted to the idea of creating something in book form.
I am not sure yet what direction I want to take with this medium (ink and brush portraits? portraits in ink and brush that tell a story in book form? A book of random images?) As the paper comes to a close, I will think more carefully about direction and purpose.
