| It all started with tape. While in my last term at the Art Center, I became obsessed with an old, weathered spool of tape. It was a yellow ochre and was almost falling off of its cardboard inner tube. It was toxic and unhealthy looking and so I was drawn to using it. This object fueled me to explore other materials. Now, with the use of transparencies, including vellums, acetates, tape and resin, I see my work in layers. I ask myself what images should be in the foreground, and what images should recede to the back. |  |
Sticking to the Story – Brooks Salzwedel
It all started with tape. While in my last term at the Art Center, I became obsessed with an old, weathered spool of tape. It was a yellow ochre and was almost falling off of its cardboard inner tube. It was toxic and unhealthy looking and so I was drawn to using it. This object fueled me to explore other materials.
Now, with the use of transparencies, including vellums, acetates, tape and resin, I see my work in layers. I ask myself what images should be in the foreground, and what images should recede to the back. I want all my pieces to have an overwhelming feeling of depth. A good piece, for instance, will have faded fog in the background, but still show detail in both its foreground and background. Most of the time, a piece will be a surprise to me, once I pull the resin out of its mold. The layers change—some images will become dull, while some will become crisp—which helps me feel like I’m not working in some formulaic way. It’s all still an experiment and so creates accidents.
I hope when a person looks at one of my pieces, they don’t see the physical toxicity of the piece—my use of resin, spray paint, glue, etc.—and instead see the blurred lines between city and nature. We’re constantly surrounded by change and growth, yet nature seems to stay the same until we touch it. I want people to be attracted to the piece as a whole, then to get closer and to find the contradicting details, inside and out.
