Katherine Nemanich

Wire, Rock, Paper
wire, rock, cotton rag paper, sumi ink
55 x 28 x 5 in.

Using sumi ink and brushes of many sizes, I paint on paper with marks that echo the rhythmic flow and rhetoric inspired by listening to selected musical compositions or to spoken poetry. I then tear and combine my ink paintings to build three-dimensional constructions—bending, layering, and gluing the durable 100% cotton paper and fastening it in places with industrial elements of grommets, bolts, and wire. How the torn and formed, curved papers; the constructed shapes and their shadows; and the tones and brush marks relate to their spatial environment is part of my ongoing inquiry into the nature of ambiguity in visual perception.

I choose to work on paper because of its long history as a means of recording human thoughts and ideas. With painted lines and constructed environments, I take the calligraphic hand drawn and gestural mark, as used in writing of every kind in every culture and language and make it into a physical, experiential reality.

© Katherine Nemanich