brandon king Untitled (2022) Mixed Media on Polystyrene (Acrylic Ink, Black Berries, Raspberries, Nail Polish, and Golden Nails)

brandon king Untitled (2022) Mixed Media on Polystyrene (Acrylic Ink, Black Berries, Raspberries and Nail Polish)

brandon king Untitled (2022) Mixed Media on Polystyrene (Acrylic Ink, Black Berries, Raspberries and Nail Polish)

brandon king "flesh & foam" (2022) Mixed Media on Polystyrene (Acrylic Ink, Black Berries, Raspberries and Nail Polish)

brandon king Untitled (2022) Mixed Media on Polystyrene (Acrylic Ink, Black Berries, Raspberries, Nail Polish, Acetone and Copper Nails) _____________________________________________

five painting series artist statement

this five painting series, exploring material and surface, serves as a warning of what will happen if society doesn’t transition away from extractive modes of production that devastate peoples and ecosystems. what happens when toxic and non-toxic collide? 

these ‘living’ paintings have a sense of movement as if the water becomes outer space where gravity feels similar. this weight, or pressure is achieve through utilizing materials that point towards ecological demise, (polystyrene, plastics, acetone, and other toxic, non-recyclable/biodegradable waste), alongside natural elements and materials which point toward regeneration of our earth’s ecology (water, salt, charcoal, ash, dirt, metals, berries). i engage in a process of decomposing an artificial toxic material, which has a seemingly infinite lifespan (polystyrene), to explore what it would be like to place these items into alignment with nature’s clock.

this painting series is suggestive, frantic, and urgent, deliberant and precise in the brushstrokes and application which balances and brings the subject matter closer into focus. these paintings decompose in real-time. i utilize a vibrant color palette and placement to draw and invite the viewer into these cosmically repugnant juxtapositions. the work of Mike Kelley, in its conceptual, playful, and grotesque nature being used as a means to interrogate societal norms, is something that helps to guide these creations. afro-futurism is a concept that frames this series. engaging in future dreaming creates non-linear pathways or openings for new possibilities. these modalities are extremely useful when unpacking harms and rerouting pathways towards reconciliation, healing, and balance.

brandon king Untitled (2022) Mixed Media on Polystyrene (Acrylic Ink, Black Berries, Raspberries and Nail Polish)

5 painting series close-ups 🔎👆🏾

another artist that peaks my interest is Elizabeth Murray. the thing that i really identify with is how she talks about resolution and the process of working through to arrive at resolve.

she says in relation to making this painting.. "The whole painting was painful. Usually, what happens is when I start to really hate it, it starts to go someplace. But it's almost as though you have to get down into that place where you absolutely hate it and want to rip it off the wall, rip it to pieces, and throw it out, to start getting into it. it's very strange." i definitely experienced these kinds of feelings in the makings of my last two paintings of the series! definitely felt like i was approaching the unknown and unfamiliar which can be scary and sometimes paralyzing. appreciate the candidness in her acknowledgment of art-making sometimes being painful.

really felt/feel affirmed hearing this!

these are paintings and drawings i've done of the course of this semester that don't quite fit the painting series. i wanted to include here for documentation and reference. notice the detail in the polystyrene. i've been consistent in the use of nail polish as paint, which has acetone which eats away at the surface of the polystyrene creating really interesting textures. though these pieces didn't make the final cut in the series, i've pleased and glad i'm being pushed to create!

i used the sandpaper block to subtract from the pigment i had down, before, this ads texture and i also learned adds more ridges for the pigment to hold on to on the very slippery polystyrene surface

other experiments i feel worth mentioning is utilizing acetone to dissolve/decay the polystyrene surface. i researched various videos that spoke to safety before trying. below is a fun video i found : )

i also made sure i dissolved test pieces before moving on to the piece i wanted to use for my final painting in the series

👆🏾above = tests / below 👇🏾 = the surface(s) i ended up using

i used nails, a glue-gun, and super glue to combine the loose pieces of polystyrene. also layered medium paste to cover up the gap along the middle. spraying the acetone ate away at the surface creating an interesting texture to begin painting from

i also kept a loose piece to see how the nail polish would potentially look on the pieces i was working from

more experimentation utilizing a screwdriver to engrave and a sanding pad to smoothen out the rough edges of the polystyrene.

also staying consistent utilizing berries for the paintings for my 5 painting series

seeing the works and learning about Mike Kelly was really transformative for me, especially with his relation to making music (experimental noise) and conceptual artmaking. one piece in particular that i thought connected to my work is his Memory Ware Flat Series. where he utilizes household objects to create a tapestry.

also too, learning about his musical influences helped to add another dimension to his art-making for me!

works in progress, figure practicing (drawing faces) on my studio wall, accompanied by research/grounding(s) books.

painting i made in conjunction with a sound collage of the early 2000s. each mix was around 16 minutes and i listened to the recording on repeat as i painted this. (i tried to upload the audio, but the file goes beyond the audio limit for tumblr!)**

that same day, i also got a chance to check out Tiffany Chung's exhibit 'Archaeology for Future Remembrance' at the Davidson Gallery . i was particularly drawn to how formulated her thoughts around her paintings and drawings utilizing cartography, topographical mapping, as a way to explore the colonial history of Vietnam, found objects that have memory in relation to military conflict between the U.S. and Vietnam during the Vietnam War (slipper(s) discarded or left fleeing areas of conflict). her layered images in vellum are dynamic from afar, and even more so close up.

taking these ideas into account as i create.

had an opportunity to go to the Jean-Michel Basquiat Show King Pleasure earlier this year. was amazed by what i saw because it wasn't the usual pieces. there were letters and drawings to and of Grace Jones, prints that Andy Warhol did of Jean-Michel's family members (his Mom, Dad and Sister), lots of little nuggets.

one thing i took specific note of was the texture of his paintings and layering, as well as the creative ways he hung his loose canvases

experiments with salt, and ink on cork and burlap.. found that cork evaporates/absorbs the salt, and both the cork and burlap surfaces are left with a bit grainy in texture

visit to the African Burial Ground National Monument Ted Weiss Federal Building at 290 Broadway NY, NY

Our History Is the Future: Standing Rock Versus the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Long Tradition of Indigenous Resistance

by Nick Estes

Border and Rule: Global Migration, Capitalism, and the Rise of Racist Nationalism

by Harsha Walia

The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World

by Vijay Prashad

Arise: Global Radicalism in the Era of the Mexican Revolution

by Christina Heatherton 

^^ books i've read/been reading over these past two months

Five Part Painting Series Proposal

these paintings serve as a warning to what will happen if society doesn’t transition away from extractive modes of production that devastate peoples and ecosystems all over this planet. energy can be created but never destroyed, and what lies underwater, beneath the surface holds truths that call for a reckoning, especially if these truths buried deep begin to rise to the surface.

mechanization, automation, technology will not save us from ecological collapse. the afterlives of slavery and the ramifactions for subjugation of people and the planet disrupts the earth’s ecology causing the waters to rise. water holds most of the space, mass of this planet, it also holds our history. i want to explore what happens when sea levels rise and what’s buried beneath comes to the surface. 

with this painting series, i aim to make a body of work that’s suggestive, frantic, and urgent, coupled with a deliberance and precision in the brushstrokes and application that balances and brings the subject matter closer into focus. these paintings will have a sense of movement as if the water becomes outer space and gravity feels similar. this weight, or pressure i hope to achieve through utilizing materials that point towards ecological demise, (styrofoam, plastics, metals, rubber, and other non-recyclable/biodegradable waste), along with natural materials which point to regeneration of our earth’s ecology (water, salt, charcoal, ash, dirt). through experimenting with the physics of these materials, my painting series will explore the symbolic relationship between human subjugation and water ecology. there’s a localized and univesal nature to this series, everything’s connected and our actions have impact and affect.

i’m drawn to afro-futurism as a concept for framing of this series. engaging in future dreaming creates non-linear pathways or openings for new possibilities. i find this extremely useful when unpacking harms and rerouting pathways towards reconciliation, healing, and balance. the works of Robert Coalscott and Chelsea Ramirez i’m particularly inspired by. Robert Coalscott’s paintings of people inspire me to think about how to position the people underwater while Chelsea Ramirez’s works exploring the use of charcoal and salt give me glimpses of what’s possible to convey socially utilizing the subject within the medium. this series is merely a humble contribution conveying human experiences related to water, the care and lack thereof, exploring myth, ancestral reverence, and re-writing oneself-and community back into h(is)tory for future generations to come.

~ brandon king