Along with the 100 Views and the Beachworks projects I occasionally revisit the Requiem for the Peten project. I've been sending out proposals to galleries around the area trying to drum up some interest in exhibiting this installation. It has been depleted by sales over time, but I have steadily filled the gaps so that it still stretches over 50 feet and includes about 45 paintings and 6 drawings. The show at Glassgrowers Gallery in Erie worked out very nicely. About 25 pieces made up the mural, but that was last year's news. I am hoping that I might be able to find a space for 2009 or early 2010 (if I'm not making my second Space Odyssey at that time). Things don't look good for that at present, but serendipity can not be discounted.
The piece above was finished two years ago and has become one of the main segments of the mural. It is joined to the panel below with a small, narrow painting between them. Altogether it is about 6 feet tall and 3.5 feet wide. It depicts Temple IV of Tikal from a high point on the west end of the Great Plaza. This is a monstrous structure that has gained some fame in popular culture as the rebel base in Star Wars. The butterfly images were derived from sketches and photos taken from walks down the old runway away from the ruins out into the scrub forest. At certain times of the year, that space is so densely populated with butterflies its like the souls of all of ancient Tikal are on parade. And a beautifully dressed parade it always is. I have walked that trail for a couple of miles without finding a terminus, but it is always good for a surprise or two.
The lower panel is a painting derived from a number of different burials found during the excavations at the Plaza de los Siete Templos. To contrast with the greens of the jungle I began to play with sienas and ochres and getting these warm earthtones bordering in some places on warm-blood reds. The stone bone textures counter the plant patterns from th upper panel in an interesting way. This is one of the nicest paintings in the installation.
The above piece is a tangle of aerial roots or tendrils that occasionally fall out of the trees or perhaps are tossed out by the monkeys. I'm guessing they grow at the ends of branches and are knocked off more easily. You can see them from the ground up in the branches, but I never looked closely enough to figure out what they were doing up there. This panel is inset on a larger painting of a ceiba trunk and root system with bones. I love the complexity and the Jackson Pollock frenetic energy.
This is a small panel of a tree trunk with some impressive thorns. The tree grows along the walkway between the aguadas and the ticket booth at the entrance to the ruins. Every time I go down there I'm amazed at the variety of surfaces on the trees boles. Even though I've seen them time and again, it is still an impressive array of textures. Sometimes, I wonder if I will ever go back. So many things pull in so many different directions, but it was a long strange ride regardless.
The piece above was finished two years ago and has become one of the main segments of the mural. It is joined to the panel below with a small, narrow painting between them. Altogether it is about 6 feet tall and 3.5 feet wide. It depicts Temple IV of Tikal from a high point on the west end of the Great Plaza. This is a monstrous structure that has gained some fame in popular culture as the rebel base in Star Wars. The butterfly images were derived from sketches and photos taken from walks down the old runway away from the ruins out into the scrub forest. At certain times of the year, that space is so densely populated with butterflies its like the souls of all of ancient Tikal are on parade. And a beautifully dressed parade it always is. I have walked that trail for a couple of miles without finding a terminus, but it is always good for a surprise or two.
The lower panel is a painting derived from a number of different burials found during the excavations at the Plaza de los Siete Templos. To contrast with the greens of the jungle I began to play with sienas and ochres and getting these warm earthtones bordering in some places on warm-blood reds. The stone bone textures counter the plant patterns from th upper panel in an interesting way. This is one of the nicest paintings in the installation.The above piece is a tangle of aerial roots or tendrils that occasionally fall out of the trees or perhaps are tossed out by the monkeys. I'm guessing they grow at the ends of branches and are knocked off more easily. You can see them from the ground up in the branches, but I never looked closely enough to figure out what they were doing up there. This panel is inset on a larger painting of a ceiba trunk and root system with bones. I love the complexity and the Jackson Pollock frenetic energy.This is a small panel of a tree trunk with some impressive thorns. The tree grows along the walkway between the aguadas and the ticket booth at the entrance to the ruins. Every time I go down there I'm amazed at the variety of surfaces on the trees boles. Even though I've seen them time and again, it is still an impressive array of textures. Sometimes, I wonder if I will ever go back. So many things pull in so many different directions, but it was a long strange ride regardless.
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