Camouflage is an ambiguous instrument. Traditional military camouflage designs were developed to conceal vehicles by blending with the environment. But in order to do so, these patterns must be placed in the environment they were designed to emulate. Taken out of their intended context, camouflage patterns may draw attention rather than deflect it. My intention with the Interference series was to acknowledge this paradox. The work announces itself as an abstract representation of foliage, reminiscent of familiar camouflage patterns. A pearlescent acrylic coating reacts with lighting conditions and changing viewing angles, defying the notion of the static picture plane and upsetting the authority of photographic representation that we conventionally rely upon to document works of art.
While camouflage attempts to obscure that which lies underneath, the Interference series strives to open up that which is beyond the surface. Rather than consider the pieces in a way we may consider a typical painting—as a representation of space—it’s helpful to think of the Interference panels as space themselves, as portals, as something we can enter and reach beyond. The illusion of space is not a result of what is depicted, but originates rather, from the way the depiction is forever unsettled and seems to screen the true subject that exists just out of view. In this sense, the work is omnipresent and elusive at the same time.
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