2020

Metal on paper

The Geography of Silence

A series of works in metal on paper 

The Geography of Silence is a series of metal-based works in which gold, copper, silver, and iron are transformed into carriers of memory and presence. These surfaces function like unearthed tablets—archaeological, but also cosmic—as if excavated from a civilization that left no language except the vibration of gesture. The marks resemble script yet refuse legibility, hovering between inscription and erosion, between speaking and listening.

Patina, oxidation, burning and gilding become acts of transition rather than decoration. The metals record processes of time: corrosion, weathering, and alchemical transformation. What appears fractured or wounded becomes luminous; what is violent becomes devotional. These are surfaces that feel ancient and contemporary at once—ritual objects for a future archaeology.

 

Together, the works form a cartography of inner and outer landscapes: maps of breath, scars of light, and the sediments of silence. Their stillness is charged, as if the viewer arrives at the moment before revelation or after catastrophe—the threshold where meaning is not told, but felt.

Die Geografie der Stille

Eine Serie von Metallarbeiten auf Papier 

Die Geografie der Stille ist eine Serie von Werken, in denen Gold, Kupfer, Silber und Eisen zu Trägern von Erinnerung und Präsenz werden. Die Oberflächen erscheinen wie ausgegrabene Tafeln—archäologisch und zugleich kosmisch—als stammten sie aus einer Zivilisation, die keine Sprache hinterließ außer der Vibration der Geste. Die Zeichen erinnern an Schrift, verweigern jedoch jede Lesbarkeit und bewegen sich zwischen Inschrift und Erosion, zwischen Sprechen und Lauschen.

Patina, Oxidation, Verbrennung und Vergoldung werden zu Prozessen der Wandlung, nicht des Schmucks. Die Metalle speichern Zeit: Korrosion, Verwitterung, alchemische Verwandlung. Was gebrochen oder verwundet wirkt, beginnt zu leuchten; das Gewalttätige wird andächtig. Diese Oberflächen sind zugleich uralt und gegenwärtig—rituelle Objekte für eine Archäologie der Zukunft.

 

Gemeinsam bilden die Arbeiten eine Kartografie innerer und äußerer Landschaften: Karten des Atems, Narben des Lichts und Sedimente der Stille. Ihre Stille ist geladen, als stünde der Betrachter am Rand einer Offenbarung oder nach einer Katastrophe—an der Schwelle, an der Bedeutung nicht benannt, sondern gespürt wird.


"Origin Surface" Done on handmade paper measuring 76 cm x 56 cm. Here I used 23 carat gold after applying copper and patinating it.  This changes so dramatically with the lighting that I find it hard to photograph it t
"Origin Surface" Done on handmade paper measuring 76 cm x 56 cm. Here I used 23 carat gold after applying copper and patinating it. This changes so dramatically with the lighting that I find it hard to photograph it t

A beginning without language: gesture emerging from raw material. Patina reads like breath touching earth.

Ein Anfang ohne Sprache: Geste aus rohem Material. Patina wie Atem auf Erde


"Oxidized Prayer" executed on handmade paper measuring 76 cm x 56 cm. Here I used copper leaf for the figures after doing the background in copper leaf and patinating it.
"Oxidized Prayer" executed on handmade paper measuring 76 cm x 56 cm. Here I used copper leaf for the figures after doing the background in copper leaf and patinating it.

A surface weathered by time. Marks rising like voices from below.

Eine von Zeit gezeichnete Oberfläche. Zeichen steigen wie Stimmen empor.


"Night Script" executed on handmade paper measuring 76 cm x 56 cm. Here I used silver leaf for the figures and complimented them by painting the background with ivory black designer gouache.
"Night Script" executed on handmade paper measuring 76 cm x 56 cm. Here I used silver leaf for the figures and complimented them by painting the background with ivory black designer gouache.

A constellation of gestures. Light surviving in darkness.

Eine Konstellation von Gesten. Licht, das in der Dunkelheit überlebt.


"Field of Returning" executed on handmade paper measuring 76 cm x 56 cm. (2020)
"Field of Returning" executed on handmade paper measuring 76 cm x 56 cm. (2020)

A luminous ground holding memory like sediment.

Ein leuchtender Grund, der Erinnerung wie Sediment trägt.


"Veins of Light" executed on handmade paper measuring 76 cm x 56 cm. Here I used 23 carat gold leaf for the figures after doing the background in copper leaf and patinating it.
"Veins of Light" executed on handmade paper measuring 76 cm x 56 cm. Here I used 23 carat gold leaf for the figures after doing the background in copper leaf and patinating it.

Light becomes mineral. Radiance moves under the skin.

Licht wird mineralisch. Leuchten unter der Oberfläche.


"Scar of Light" Metal leaf with and without patina, designer gouache, India ink and/or iron ground on handmade paper measuring 76 cm x 56 cm. Here I used 23 carat gold leaf. (2020)
"Scar of Light" Metal leaf with and without patina, designer gouache, India ink and/or iron ground on handmade paper measuring 76 cm x 56 cm. Here I used 23 carat gold leaf. (2020)

A map of wounds and survival. Red as pulse, gold as witness.

Eine Karte von Wunden und Überleben. Rot als Puls, Gold als Zeuge.


"The Listening Field" Iron ground on handmade paper measuring 76 cm x 56 cm. Here I used 23 carat gold leaf on an iron ground background. The iron has been lightly patinated.
"The Listening Field" Iron ground on handmade paper measuring 76 cm x 56 cm. Here I used 23 carat gold leaf on an iron ground background. The iron has been lightly patinated.

The ending returns to simplicity: space waiting to speak.

Das Ende kehrt zur Einfachheit zurück: Raum, der auf Sprache wartet.