Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Silent Water




I had to take another break from the big lino.
These Carny Hands are nothing but little claws, lately.
And I wanted to see some tangible progress.
And I'm less likely to fall asleep screen printing than I am cutting the lino...

Silent Water is a 2 color silkscreen (dark blue over light silver blue)
Image size is 18" x 24" printed on 22" x 3o" paper
From a photoshoot I did last year in the Los Angeles River

Looking at the prints hanging behind me, the dark blue is darker than the above photo. It dried down some. It's more contrasty.

The title comes from a song by the band The Telescopes from the album As Approved By The Committee. It's one of those songs that I wish I had written. Or at least had an excuse to sing.

More than other cities I've lived, names and places here constantly evoke bits of song, dialogue or scenery from film. etc. If I'm downtown crossing the LA River, I invariably envision a young Emilio Estevez puking over the bridge in Repo Man. When I cross it on my way to work I hear the second verse from Some Other Time by X:

this midnight
i will
turn into a beer
i will
dream of you between nightmares and wars
and toss and turn
ain't you gonna take me for a ride
drink and drive
down to the l.a. river bed
i'll make no mistakes and
i'll behave

Another inspiration for this piece came from the cover of the soundtrack to You Light Up My Life, which my in-laws have displayed in their living room. We were back east recently, visiting family, and I fixated on the cover, especially the tasty duotone color scheme.

I've been revisiting Twin Peaks lately, as well.

Now it's back to the lino.