Joe Kievitt
2007 Biennial Talk
Run Time: 2:58
In my search for new ways to represent the landscape, I have begun incorporating textile patterns. The result is reminiscent of something like a paper cutout, revealing a view into another plane. This reference to textile design and craft materials comes from an interest in what happens when incorporating textile imagery into illusionist space and my increasing desire to connect my work to the tactile tradition of craft, and its lack of pretension.
By employing a pared-down view of the landscape, much of the organic aspects of my subject matter have been stripped away, allowing a greater emphasis on the repetitive, rhythmic patterns within the piece. Anime-inspired depiction of forms and Asian painting traditions also inform my work.
I use a process of slowly working the materials into the paper until the surface begins to resemble felt. With this application process I am able to achieve an extensive range of values creating form, light, order and a suggestion of color. There is almost no evidence of the hand and because of this, the viewer’s discovery of how meticulously the image was made becomes a defining aspect of my work.