Portfolio > The Imperative Series

I study handwriting samples in search of a “relative sameness” among them. This sameness is simultaneously reflected in the fluctuation and consistency of each hand-written word or phrase. I find that as one’s temperament and appearance varies from day to day, so do one’s thoughts and actions. Since handwriting is in essence a trace of one’s thoughts through action, it gives us a visual record of a person’s state of mind as he wrote.

The Imperative Series, my latest body of work is a series of paintings and prints based on a collaborative handwriting experiment in which participants wrote the second formulation of Kant’s Categorical Imperative once a day for ten days. This re-presenting of participants’ re-presenting of Kant’s original concept questions the chain of authorship and who actually has the right to claim these designs as their own. I resolve this issue by sharing the experience of mark-making with my subjects, combining my brushwork with the record of the scribe’s motion.

“Act as if the maxim of your action were to become by your will a universal law of nature”

-Immanuel Kant

Portrait of My Father, a shared trace of handwriting as imagery
Oil on Canvas
60" x 72" x 2.5"
May 2010
Self Portrait, a trace of handwriting as imagery
Oil & Graphite on Canvas
60" x 72" x 2.5"
May 2010
Portrait of My Teacher, a shared trace of handwriting as imagery
Oil on Canvas
60" x 72" x 2.5"
July 2010
Study from a series.
Oil & Acrylic on Canvas
24" x 24" x 1.5"
May 2010
Study from a series.
Latex on Canvas
24" x 24" x 1.5"
May 2010
Study from a series.
Latex on Canvas
24" x 24" x 1.5"
May 2010
The Imperative Series: Joel
Acrylic on Canvas
36" x 48" x 1.5"
June 2010
A shared trace of handwriting as imagery - a portrait.
Oil & Acrylic on Canvas
36" x 48" x 1.5"
July 2010
Detail of "Tony"
Oil & Acrylic on Canvas
36" x 48" x 1.5"
July 2010
A shared trace of handwriting as imagery - a portrait.
Acrylic on Canvas
36" x 48" x 1.5"
July 2010
The Imperative Series: Sue
Oil and Acrylic on Canvas
36" x 48" x 1.5"
July 2010