Bodyscapes

Bodyscapes Series, mixed media on canvas, 6”x6” each

Grids are a common occurrence in my collages and I often create individual square pieces for different series with the intention of showing them in grids.  A few years before the 2011 Project, back in 2003, I was working on a series of what I called Bodyscapes.  They were all square format, males nudes just showing a portion of the body.  Partly the idea came about as a response to my own question of how to depict the male nude.  And, anyone familiar with my landscape work will recognize that no matter what I paint, I have a tendency to make everything look like desert rocks, hence the name Bodyscapes.  I also wanted to add an erotic element to the work.  The erotic content itself is not subtle, but only visible when one views the sides of the canvases and realizes they are wrapped in material such as old newspapers, comics and especially pages from queer, erotic paperbacks from the 1960’s and 1970s (see below).  Some selections from the series are shown above.