Thinking more in depth about my process of layering and questioning why I use this technique. It seems so natural for me, it’s a way of accepting the initial images I may use to start a piece and instead of covering over those beginnings I chose to add and that in effect can transform the original marks. It’s a difficult process to describe, as its very intuitive for me.
Some of the time I am deliberately trying to deal with trauma , a layer puts a distance between the unpleasant issue and me currently. Sometimes I do this layering as a way of turning the initial drawing into something that looks right to me.
I have had a recurring issue with the pyramid shape for a long time. I recently found a drawing from the 1980’s that shows this. Some years ago I tried to do a piece with a pyramid that just went nowhere. Recently, I got it out again and worked on it some more. For me the pyramid represents the Patriarchy , chosen because , it’s the perfect hierarchical symbol. I tried to find a symbol for the female energy in the world and came up with , moss , feathers, honeycomb, the fetus.
I started another smaller pyramid shaped diptych and as it developed ,the gun also seemed to be the perfect representation of male energy. The piece is so new, that I am still digesting it. The crystal/cage shape makes me think of blood diamonds and the children in cages, on the southern US border.
The first sketch below is the drawing from the 1980’s and the second is the just finished image.
