#TheDiviner', 2019, oil on plastic and found book, 9.5” x 6.5” x 1.25”. Courtesy of @LaLuzDeJesus , #Los Angeles For my #exhibition, ‘#InMemoryofWater’, I #painted a series of #objects that I had in my studio, which I’ve done since I was at art school. I think this came about from the #spontaneity of needing a surface to paint on. I’d grab anything that was around at the time – #books, #bottles, #cans, old #brushes, #painttubes and paper plates that I use for paint palettes. This latest group of objects I saw as #futurerelics unearthed after life ceases in an area – in my sketchbook I grouped the sketches of the objects under the heading ‘After the #Archeological Dig in the #ValleyoftheDryBones’. I’ve used the idea of ‘The Valley of the Dry Bones’ as a theme since moving to the #desert in 2010. The cover depicts a #skeletal, #colonially dressed figure in the process of #dowsing or #divining water sources with the rod. The figure is an #amalgam of several other figures also in this exhibition (see ‘The Diviner’ and ‘Epilogue to the Discovery of Water’). Originally, I got the image from an #engraving from an 18th century French book on the Historical Critique of Practical Superstitions. It’s now the main image that comes up of a dowser on #Wikipedia! The idea of #discovery is two-fold with the unearthing of the object and the secret compartment inside the book, denying it’s original purpose, but still acting as a vessel. Inside the book, I sliced a plastic bone in half and painted it as if it was a measuring #vial or #beaker. The text on the left side is taken from the 1922 ‘#ColoradoCompact’ – the #treaty that outlined the use and allocation of water to states that survive off the Colorado River. The affected states are listed around the cavity of the book. .. cont. below https://www.instagram.com/p/BxLGdarh7n1/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=gv10sg08y53v
