Abstract Newsletter, Issue 21

8/6/2019 Abstract Newsletter, Issue 21

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Issue 21July 9, 2011

Abstract Expressionism: KristinBaker (1975 - )

Kristin Baker is a painter based in NewYork. She often uses stencil and signpainting techniques on PVC panels.Baker holds a BFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts / TuftsUniversity, Boston (1998), andgraduated from Yales MA PaintingProgramme (2002).

Her work has been exhibited in manyprominent international galleries andmuseums, including the WhitneyMuseum of American Art and PS1Contemporary Art Centre in New York,the Pompidou Centre in Paris, TheRoyal Academy in London and TheHermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.Her work is featured in the SaatchiCollection, and she is represented byDeitch Projects, New York.

Baker first came to attention in 2003 2004 with large-scale paintings thatappeared to revel in the spectacle of auto racing, capturing the visceralrush and excitement of the sport, aswell as a sense of imminent disaster,dramatic accidents, and the spectacleof destruction. Baker's father was anamateur driver, and this imagerycomes directly from her ownobservation and memories. Passageat Section K-P (2004), at fifteen feetacross, offers a cinematic view of aracetrack, the grandstand, and what

must be the billowing clouds of smokefrom a crash:

Kurotoplac Curve (2004), freestandingwith a width of sixteen feet andpresented on an armature that mimicsthe stands, in its curving sculpturalform calls to mind the banked turn of

the track itself:

Baker's industrial supports (Mylarsheets, PVC), along with the glossyopacity of her palette (vibrant plasticpolymers), suggest as well thesynthetic colors of auto bodies, whichin her work are seen as bodies inmotion, collision, and obliteration. Inthese paintings the thrill and sense of violence in racing parallel the velocityand chaos of action painting. Hershards of paint, applied with knivesand squeegees never brushes lenda sculpted/collaged facture to thesurface, further heightening the feelingthat what we are left with is the bodyof a shattered, splintered vehicle.Here as well we see the evidence of how Baker draws the shapes in herpaintings, with tape intuitively appliedand later quickly torn from thesurface.

It's also worth noting that in additionto racing cars, the artist's father

served as a volunteer firefighter, andBaker recalls the fear and dread thatwere never far from her mind duringher childhood, whether at a race or onan average day. She wouldsometimes go to the scene of a fire,and watch as the company fought the


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blaze. Early experiences with thefleeting nature of life, with mortality,would later surface in her paintings,possibly as a means with which tograsp, render, and reconcile what isotherwise incomprehensible, even longafter the fact.

Featured Artist: Mike Tomlin(1966 - )

Mike Tomlin was born in Camden, NJ,his hometown is San Diego, CA, andhe currently resides in Raleigh, NC.He is a self-taught artist, workingmostly in acrylics but has also workedwith oils and encaustics. He is alsoself-taught in photography, digital art,and web site design.

Forward No.3 - acrylic & gel, 36 x 36

As for his process, the application of

paint comes from typical utensils tovirtually any hardware he can get hishands on - sometimes he just uses hishands. Other times paint is poured orthrown. Basically, there are no rules orlimits in how the paint reaches thecanvas.

During the process of applying layersof paint, he often breaks down thepaint through scarring. This is donewith sharp objects and denaturedalcohol. Eventually, through acreative/destructive process, the

painting achieves a completion point.

Tomlin's paintings are multi-layeredand exhibit a great degree of depthand texture.

What Ive Been Up to Lately:

I haven't had the urge to paint for awhile. I am not sure if it's because Ihave been obsessed with photography(I tend to obsess on one thing at atime) or just because I've been out of the groove. I have tried to makemyself go out and paint, but the resultwas not satisfactory. So, yesterday Ihappened to be in the garage doingsomething else and decided to pick upthe paint brush. I did three smallpaintings and then did three more


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later under similar circumstances.Here they are:

Circus, 8 x 10, acrylic on canvas

Lilies, 10 x 10, acrylic on canvas

Regal, 10 x 10, acyrlic on canvas

Strike, 9 x 12, acrylic on canvas


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Throne, 10 x 10, acrylic on canvas

I did these small paintings to be hungin a small gallery called Studio B inMyrtle Beach, SC. That's all the wallspace I have for now, or I would domore. My next project is to do twolarge paintings as a dyptych for afriend. She likes greens and blues.Luckily I do pretty well with thosecolors and have several differenceoptions for each hue.

cjh.

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Abstract Newsletter, Issue 21