My earliest memories are of collecting odd leaves, shells, pebbles and other bits of natural debris, bringing them home and attempting to fashion them into art. My love of this forgotten childhood pleasure was rediscovered in a dry lake-bed in Nebraska, littered with bones that had been bleached and burnt by the sun. The result was a series of bone panels imparting a prehistoric ambiance and alluding to a place where ancient dreams unfold and strange creatures beckon. The bones are the remainders of birds, fish and deer that were buried beneath the sands. Leaves, petals and other bits were culled from my garden. Most of these panels included a microtale, vignette or poem on the back that complements the work.
My other love is books and the making of them. Art changes, and the inspiration to create the panels became a desire to explore the foundation of the book and its contents and the function these items serve. Blank pages, bones, leaves, sinew, shells, binder’s materials and accompanying matter are housed in shadow boxes, as though seen from behind the imperfect glass of memory. Within this work I discover the unity of bone and book in an exploration of paper, language and the means by which we bind these things together.
It hasn’t all been books and bones, however. The lure of oils, pastels, gouache, pen, ink and pencils has always been strong, at one point leading to a compulsive study of the face. This period saw the creation of over one hundred studies of the way bone shapes our living skin. During another phase, the appeal of Islamic art took hold and my work became all of patterns and arabesques. What you’ll find as you explore the pages of this website are examples of all of the styles and substances in which I work.
To view my portfolio, click here.
Photos copyright © Sam E. 2006.