Imperfect Boundaries

“Imperfect Boundaries” communicates edges, density, freedom, and constraint. These pieces are meant to have an arresting first impression and to lure you into the vortex while your eye wanders along the painted linework. The dense ink creates activity and depth - its absence creates breath and light. The edges of the shapes imply an invisible line that the ink is forbidden from crossing.

The paintings seek to balance liberty and restraint – a duality I negotiate with myself every day. The work represents my ambition to grasp and yield to the big picture, only to promptly [and often desperately] institute a sense of control upon it.

As I’ve lived in cities with strong boundaries, this artwork tells the story of the world I see around me. When I lived in New York, I could not see the boundary of the city beyond the horizon skyline, which gave me a simultaneous sense of uneasiness and safety. Now living in Tijuana and San Diego, I daily traverse a political boundary across the porous mesh between Mexico and the US. To the North of the border, a series of freeways connecting me with the rest of the county, and to the South, city blocks forcibly pushed up against only feet away from the wall.

“Imperfect Boundaries” is not shy about sharing its process as ink is naturally unpredictable. The darker strokes give away the painting’s scars. Instead of concealing, I strive to be more like the ink – celebrating my own emotional scars as lessons learned. As I work, each piece develops a personality of its own. I respect this growth process and consider it natural; there comes a point that I can only give the ink guidance as it makes its own decisions and forms its own identity.

In “Imperfect Boundaries,” absence is as important as presence. At a micro scale, the work reveals my own personal anxiety - a collection of thoughts - all present at the same time. On a larger scale, I believe the paintings reflect the tensions we all must contend with in our daily lives: the establishment of and respect for boundaries, the acceptance and even the celebration of the imperfect, the tug between complexity and simplicity, and the ever-present sense for equilibrium.

Title: Imperfect Boundaries

Art Product #: AA-A20-35

Dimensions (h x w): 30” x 30” (76.2 cm x 76.2 cm)

Date Produced: 2020

Medium: Sepia Ink on Vellum Paper

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