Riding my bike down a country road last year, I was stopped in my tracks by the most graceful tar lines covering the cracks in the asphalt. We’ve all seen these tar lines pretty much everywhere and mostly ignore them. But this day, they seemed to jump off the road. I respond to organic shapes, often dancing their lines and shapes when out walking in the woods or along a road. My paintings reflect this movement, and when I saw those tar lines, I felt them dancing inside me. I got off my bike and took photos and a video walking down the middle of the road.
I’ve long wanted to do an installation in a gallery where I would present things brought in from the world, to view anew in that rarefied space, pieces of cracked pavement with plants growing in them creating Plant lines, pieces of cracked road with Tar lines. When I saw a ‘Call for Art’ for “Ephemera: The Power of Impermanence,” I thought maybe “nows my chance.” I drew up a proposal that included photographs of actual tar lines, the video, pieces of cracked TarLines and PlantLines. While that was honestly too much for a group exhibition, I DID get juried in with the photographs and tar lines, and possibly the video. While figuring out how to create tar lines for the show, I discovered rolls of asphalt roofing material and had an “Aha!” moment. Back in my studio, I painted double yellow lines to begin. I tried black liquid rubber, but the smell never abated, even after a week, and I abandoned that idea. Black acrylic sufficed and I finished the piece with polyurethane so it was walkable. We installed that, hopeful that people WOULD in fact, walk or dance upon it, and interact with those graceful lines as I had done. It worked!
Oh, and I was fortunate enough to be featured on WGNTV while Victoria Fuller was being interviewed about HER Incredible Pieces and the show! Though I can’t figure out how to link the actual video, you can view it here - I'm in the 2nd video! https://wgntv.com/morning-news/around-town/around-town-checks-out-ephemera-the-power-of-impermanence-at-the-art-center-highland-park/