Litho Heaven

I've been working on my first litho with print/painting-based artist Eric Euler (www.ericeuler.com). So far, we've only done the first of three layers. The finished piece will be a part of the Rock N Roll III - A Celebration of Stone Lithography group exhibition in April (gallery TBA) organized by Eric Euler. The exhibition will tour in Toronto, ON and Montreal, QC. :)

So far...

Encaustic Adventures!

I wanted to show a few pieces that I made last semester in Nicole Collins' class "Process as Art: Meaning of Materials". For all three projects, I worked with encaustic sculpturally and 2-Dimensionally. It was my first time working in encaustic and I encountered many challenges and frustrations. I had to relinquish my need to control the outcome and "follow the paint". Once I was able to let go, each piece proved to be an exciting collaboration between me and the medium.

For this piece, I made a wire mesh armature and brushed melted wax over the wire until it built up this wart-like surface. I loved that it evolved into this weird, conch-like creature. I haven't taken photos of the finished piece yet.

This is a 3.5 x 5 foot encaustic on panel. Since it was my first encaustic painting I wanted to explore all that the medium could do. I experimented with dripping wax, melting it with a heat gun, scraping it away and smoothing the surface with an iron. All of these methods created such amazingly different textures! It is also my first blue painting, which is pretty exciting.

For this piece, I found a beautiful piece of bark in High Park and made a silicone mold of it. I cast the mold in wax in an attempt to create "bruised flesh". Sadly, this piece got destroyed over the holidays but I'm glad that I got a chance to document it before its untimely death!

I'm back!

Well, it's been far too long since this blog has been updated. But I'm back into the swing of things and I'll be updating regularly, so keep in touch. I'll start by thanking everyone who was able to make it to the opening reception of the Salon V group exhibition at Propeller Centre for the Visual Arts on Jan. 13th. It was such an amazing turn out and I was fortunate to meet and discuss the art with many of the other artists.

For those of you who didn't make it, I have a painting in the show until January 30th, 2011. Drop by if you're in the Queen West neighborhood :)

Here are some pictures from the opening reception:

Publish Post

Flying away

I have gone to Rio De Janeiro for a month! See you in August! :D

In Reverie - July 23rd, 2010

Here are a few pictures that I managed to snag at the opening reception of In Reverie at the Firehall Theatre in Gananoque. :) Thank you again to everyone that showed up. It was truly a beautiful night full of reunions!

It is a mystery...

IN LIMBO

Only time will tell

I reworked the background of this painting so many times that it became a painful procedure. I was beginning to reach a point where I thought nothing could come of it... And so I felt like I had nothing to lose and dove right in. Only time will tell what becomes of it.

The floor of my work space in my Dad's office area.

I'm sure he loves this.

July 23rd

Caitlyn and I will be showing some work in our home town, Gananoque, at the end of this month. The opening reception will be held prior to the first run of Master Harold and The Boys at the Firehall Theatre. I hope to see you there!

A little preview...

Recent Florence Work

A Dark Breath

Life is a constant cycle of deaths and rebirths. This body of work stemmed from a deep need for internal transformation and renewal.

To shed one's skin to begin a new phase of life can be seen as a positive experience but it also involves pain. My work explores the liminal period between two stages of one's life and the importance of the suffering connected with it. This gestation period forces self-confrontation and acts as a doorway to a new life and rebirth. In our hour of uncertainty we enter an ambiguous world - a limbo that suspends us in the heart of darkness, into an unknown we fear but must trust.

The Other

Desperately, I seek to understand who I am at my very core

From the inside out, unraveling my deepest desires, discovering my unknowns

My hidden truths

My judgements

My fears and my armor

The walls I create, to keep you out

I'm constantly searching for the differences between us

Between Me and the Other

But my identity resides in you

It lies internal

So I dissect

I eat away at you to understand

I take from you, I leave you empty, to understand

I bring you closer into my darkness

A forced amalgamation

I deconstruct you, break you down

Consume your insides until

I feel your pain, I feel your life

Until we are one

Until I see

I am the other.

You are my other.

Early Florence Work