This fall I have devoted much of my studio time to planning new projects and contemplating the association between objects and play. Some of my wandering thoughts have led me to looking at other objects in the world, reminiscent of childhood toys in their geometric simplicity; however they are designed and produced, even destroyed, at a more sophisticated level. As we grow older we still want to make sense of the world, we still have the desire to organize diffuse materials into simple, concentrated shapes such as blocks and balls. Many different kinds of objects have captured my attention, lately, especially hay bales, clay bricks, sod, swimming pools...objects that amalgamate nature into manageable units, objects that facilitate our understanding of the infinite through finite designs. I find myself contemplating the possibility that our early play with simple objects also shapes our view of the world and fuels our desire to categorize, condense, and, ultimately, dominate our environment.
It is with these thoughts in mind that I offer Hay Bales, one the paintings in progress in my studio right now. I find it interesting how, when abstracted through palette choices and loss of detail, these roadside totems remind me so much of the little balls and cylinders my daughter kicks around her room.
