| The art of Donald Damask plays with color, texture and line—all of which are cobbled by the forces of time and chance. He creates within an action-based process that leverages opportunity and opportunity overturned. His work addresses the great tides of the universe as they move from renewal to decay in a never-ending spiral. While his compositions are challenging, they are certainly not static; tension arises when structural elements and surface masses appear uncomfortably paired. Just as one begins to comprehend the composition of a particular work, its fine line, fields of color and photon-like impressions nearly collapse the structure of it. | 
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The art of Donald Damask plays with color, texture and line—all of which are cobbled by the forces of time and chance. He creates within an action-based process that leverages opportunity and opportunity overturned. His work addresses the great tides of the universe as they move from renewal to decay in a never-ending spiral. While his compositions are challenging, they are certainly not static; tension arises when structural elements and surface masses appear uncomfortably paired. Just as one begins to comprehend the composition of a particular work, its fine line, fields of color and photon-like impressions nearly collapse the structure of it. Each creation appears to contend with the second law of thermodynamics, namely entropy. The balance of the proposed forms and colors as well as that near collapse of the visual statement are what are most thrilling in Damask’s new body of work.
The self-same aluminum printing plate is the primal element for all of Damask’s works on Mongolian cashmere and Japanese rice paper since each printing of successive colors results in the alteration of colors and forms. However, the artist does not settle for a straight roll of the paper or cashmere through the press. Instead, he moves these materials from left to right, letting chance play its alchemical magic. In this respect, the work is all about transformation. Like life itself, the artist’s oeuvre is constantly evolving, with some similarities, and this evolution is one that defies repetition.
The books, as well as the prints on paper and on cashmere, reveal an Asian art-inspired aesthetic; the latter pieces are truly scroll-like, whereas the books remind one of Japanese screens. These objects exude an intense, although soft-spoken Zen aesthetic—the patterns of color rest in what appear to be shallow pools with multiple currents and eddies. By contrast, the copper plates from Tuscany are, visually, louder as the play of acid impressions, embossed and de-embossed areas and gold leaf regions ambitiously compete for turf on the limited surfaces offered.
Damask is inspired by the places he visits and, similarly, the local materials and environments observed. The copper and gilded objects were developed while he was working in Tuscany while the paper and cashmere prints resulted from a trip to Mongolia during which he collected samples of the precious material. Overall, each of these beautiful objects in their respective groupings; cashmere, copper, cotton and book form are comparative to individual notes on a musical score. Together and in each of their groups, Damask’s works establish a cacophony of music, mood and thought about who we are and where we are in this vast universe.
