My grandfather was the city architect of Philadelphia for a time in the 1960s. Recently finding his drawings from architecture school in the 1930s has been very special and inspiring, and Professor Hart has encouraged me to use my grandfather's drawings (photocopies!) in collages. Even though he's no longer with us it gave me a chance to collaborate with him and employ his drawing style, and see where our generations lapse or bridge.
Working with my grandfathers drawings has definitely influenced my drive to perfect the craft. He was trained as an architect in the 1930s at UPenn and everything was done by hand with impeccable precision. I believe that to find your style (artistically and with architecture), you first have to learn how to draw from life accurately. |
How is your voice shown through your art/design?
Painting for me is about "moments" where colors work together or the movement of one brush stroke becomes the focal point. Similarly, my relationship with design is centered on trusting the process until one of these moments arrive, when things begin to make sense. By entering both the painting and design realms I get to use my gut and my subconscious, and bring what they want to say forward. Does your art affect your studio work? Abstract painting is about creating forms from nothing. This has helped me tremendously in creating compositions in design and creating forms in 2D drawings. I am comfortable with abstractions so collaging has been a major process step for me in the design process. |