Inspiration

A few years ago I visited the Toledo Art Museum. In the Egyptian section I admired the hieroglyphs. I loved their crispness. They really are so beautiful, carved into stone with such precision. As an artist, everything I like I want to recreate. I stood in that gallery thinking about the simplicity and beauty and wanting that to be a part of something I made. But at the same time I knew that reproducing the symbols would not be satisfying. And then it struck me. It would not be satisfying because to me it wouldn’t mean anything. These images and symbols were carved into stone to convey meaning, not just to look pretty. It was not just the visual image that called to me; it was also that idea of communication. If I was going to reproduce these tablets I would need to satisfy that same desire to convey as well as the pristine simplicity of the imagery. I would need to use the tools for conveying meaning that are available to me now- not what was meaningful to another culture so long ago.

That moment in the gallery shaped the text pieces I’ve made. Like most decisions that actually lead to action, it wasn’t just the revelation in the museum that resulted in the works being created, it was a convergence of desires. Either shortly before or shortly after that day in the museum I met with my friend and fellow artist, Emily de Araújo. Our conversation and looking at her work solidified my desire to make a text piece. I went home that night and wrote the text for “A Real Problem.” I chose the text face very deliberately. In some ways I always feel that Times New Roman is a non-choice, the default. This time I chose to use it because I wanted the clarity, simplicity and familiarity. I realized later that this connected the works to my early learning experiences. Letters were something I struggled with and worked hard to master. They were my early training in perseverance. Learning to read taught me that determination pays off. Maybe that is why I find small actions that lead to big results so satisfying. I drew the gridlines and painted each of the 420 letters in that painting by hand. I made master letters out of paper, 4”x4”, and I’ve used those same letters for every text piece I’ve made. These connections and interactions between history, ideas and materials are critical to my work. I’ll never be a linear thinker, but I am very proud of the way my circular thinking allows for these interactions.