Laurel Sparks
Region: Northeast
Although I call myself a painter, my process is closer to mad science. Poured gesso shapes and woven patterns are determined by magical calculations rather than formal design. Directional lines and points are assigned specific colors, numbers, and elements. As I follow occult systems of correspondences, the paintings generate themselves. Kabbalistic diagrams, string figures, and mathematical poetry provide options for painterly scaffolding with an interdependence of modular parts. In the process of translating these systems into geometric tableaux, I actively seek tension, irregularities, and contradiction. Fluid lines, stains, and frayed edges disrupt the stable elegance of interlocking shapes; they assert feral energy that is irreverent toward precision.