blackbird online journal spring 2002 vol.1 no. 1

 

MARK HARRIS | Work and Commentary

Cut Paper Work

Untitled, 1996, 28" x 5" x 5", acrylic paint, cut paper, oil on plywood.



I have this notion that there's a use for "bad craft," for an inelegance in construction and implausible combinations of process. I'm enthusiastic, therefore, about discontinuity and inconsistency as principles by which paintings might be assembled. All such procedures are part of the development of a more complex notion of craft work which emphasizes decorative aspects. These constructions are the start of references to clothing, to fashion, to an excess of care, to an excess of colour and texture. As part of a de-masculinization of gestural painting these pieces begin to quote from the functions of clothing with cut paper embellishing or ornamenting a structure.

 


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