Marks in Isolation I - Sue Kelman

Watercolor and ink on paper
23.5" x 19.5"
 
For me, this time of isolation has been a time of experimentation with techniques and mediums. Sometimes this came from a sense of adventure and excited interest – sometimes it emitted from a desperate sense of gnawing loneliness and hopelessness. Canvases were painted over and over again. Paintings have been obliterated and turned into something else, often to be obliterated again. Lots of wreckage around. A few of my most unsuccessful pieces were resurrected with cavalier fearlessness. I mean, what could be worse?
 
I’ve also been doing a lot of reading – about the brain and how it works, about sleep and dreams, about the history of our “democracy” and the racial injustice it has supported and perpetuated from the beginning. A recent novel about the flu pandemic 100 years ago put our current life in historical perspective.
 
These pieces, called “Marks in Isolation” used home-made stamps, water-soluble pen and watercolor to attempt to approximate an ancient language -- simple markings -- to translate modern musings.