This is T.A.'s grandmother's dining room chair. This is not really the reason I chose this chair, although it does fit nicely within the faux/actual histories of furniture in period rooms. I liked the general shape of the chair and I hope to do something particularly interesting with the woven seat (maybe woven paper doesn't sound that interesting, but it will look cool). It is much more rectilinear than the Windsor chair with a neat shaped back.
This photograph shows the paper I prepared to construct the chair. I wanted to simulate a woodgrain pattern and really just had fun swishing large brushes saturated with sumi ink around on a huge piece of paper. It was nice to paint something (extreme sarcasm). I tried to get a variety of marks that look like fine wood grain in varying shades. I have since cut this paper up and came up with...
After a mocking suggestion from Matt that I begin with the legs of the chair, I realized that this was perfectly logical. I also realized that my first attempt to build a stable, free standing object out of paper starting at the top was indicative of my lack of experience building tri-dimensionally. This lack of experience should have prompted some sort of logical voice in my head that perhaps three dimensions are one too many for me to handle, but it didn't. In fact, it was emotionally fulfilling to see my first chair slide slowly groundwards as my new legs with claw feet stood upright by themselves. Hooray for trial and error!
I think the ink looks really great. It is more fun to work with, trying to match up the dark and lights and make them fade or end abruptly. The balls that the claw feet are grasping are particularly nice; all dark paper and the claws themselves are light. The effects of the inked paper help simulate shadow and texture, but also allude to drawing and thus to painting. This is really exciting. This paper is not gessoed like the first chair's paper and is
more manageable to work with and also allows for more finesse. The feathered brush marks are really effective in some areas and the the pooling and dripping ink looks great too. I would like to play with more texture next time, perhaps more carefully faux-painted. I also want to look out for chairs that have details such as the claw feet that sculpturally translate in this process (this won't happen until I'm back in Provincetown). I was thinking that I would like to borrow furniture from Ptown FAWC personalities. The first person I have in mind is this wonderful artist, Pat, who has a great collection of stuff and is someone I would like to get to know better. I would especially like to borrow something from Salvatore, one of my favorite FAWCers.I am looking forward to bringing this newfound part of my studio practice back to Provincetown with me. It will be nice to have something to work on that is so different from painting (I can stay clean and I won't have to change my clothes!). I am interested to makes some more paintings of singular objects and see how these interact with the chairs. I've tried to do drawing and painting simultaneously and it never really worked for me, but these are so different that I am optimistic.
I probably won't get to post again until I have left Vermont. I can't wait to share parts of the performance Matt recorded for me. It was nerve-racking, but ultimately successful. Soon!
