October 2007
Virginia Schaffer Block
Montclair, New Jersey
virginiablock@comcast.net
ARTIST STATEMENT
Travel has provided me an inexhaustible source of inspiration. In the past four years I have had the opportunity to visit China three times. This current body of work is a visual memory of my most recent travel throughout the Yunnan province and cities along the eastern mountains bordering Tibet.
I have chosen a restricted color palette for this series of paintings, using, almost exclusively, the five colors that represent the five elements in Tibetan culture and Buddhism.
My creative technique is one of layering many compatible mediums within each work. One painting may include some or all of the following: acrylic medium- viscosity colors, acrylic inks, acrylic modeling paste, gel mediums, metallic powders, metallic acrylic gesso, crayon, graphite, colored pencil, encaustic wax and collage. Drips are enhanced by the addition of flow medium with rubbing alcohol used as a resist agent. Acrylic modeling paste, applied directly onto the canvas, creates the dimensionally raised areas. Pressing old printing blocks or various patterned items into this medium creates areas of recessed designs. Other heavily textured areas are achieved by using textured gel mediums, which incorporate ground aggregates, glass beads or mica. Sanding and scraping the surfaces at various intervals of development reveals underlying layers and subtle nuances. I also frequently employ collage, photo transfer, sewing, and assemblage. Found objects, such as antique lace and metal pieces, are torn, dyed, or hammered before they are placed into a work in order to altar their original state.
I am most interested in seeking the intangible essence of a place. Accordingly, these paintings are not meant to be renderings of building facades and temple entrances, but rather my interpretations and remembrances of them with my memory feeding my imagination. I want the viewer to feel the spirit of these destinations. Look at these paintings and discover foreign motifs embedded and assimilated by another culture. Experience the passage of time through the rich veneers that tell a story.
