PASTELS (INCLUDING GREEN SEA)
1980-1981

This is a format I like so much—things appearing and disappearing. This comes back again and again in the graphite drawings, the cut pieces, the polycarbonates.

They were all done on beautiful neutral-pH rag paper, with pastels that I made while I was in college, which had more pigment than most. I laid down the pastel, then rubbed it in with silk. The silk cut the surface of the paper so that the pigment was more readily embedded. They were all sprayed with Dumar matte.

The initial interweaving finger pattern evolved into a complex brick-like structure, which can be seen in Homage: Sadat and Green Sea.

Green Sea was a nonette, a 6.5 foot-by-10-foot silk-rubbed pastel piece made in nine parts. “Nonette” is a musical term, I didn’t know of a parallel term for visual art. It was put into the collection at the World Trade Center in New York City. It was destroyed with the towers in 2001.

Other notes:

Sadat was the head of Egypt for a while. I heard about his death on the radio while I was working, and it seemed to me the name most appropriate for that piece. This offended people who perceived him as an enemy. I didn’t agree with everything he did, but I thought he was a strong person who did what he damned well pleased.

Re: the World Trade Center. I have always felt that when a piece was placed in a major collection, that it was safe, and I could sort of forget about it. And now? It’s out of my hands, so I still forget about it, whatever happens. I imagine some have become deacessioned; I don’t know. They’ve been in major collections since the 70’s and 80’s. A couple of pieces, the heirs of the collector have gotten in touch with me asking for piece values for tax purposes and such. That’s interesting.