On The Other Hand by Rolf Campos thinks about the freedom of form through the artist’s use of the non-dominant left hand. Functioning as a kind of meditation, tapping into the less controlled hand is a way of thinking differently. For the artist, while the right hand is the trained, learned hand, the left is the opposite and might be considered closer to nature.
In the natural world, lines are never simply straight. They move and give shape to forms in a slow, spontaneous way. In this series the artist tries to do the same. A former botanical illustrator at the National Museum, scientific drawings required that the artist closely observe and reproduce the internal structures of plants. Here, the practice of slow looking remains but instead of precision, drawing yields to the raw qualities of the line; coarse marks restrained by the adherence to botanical forms.
Rounding out the exhibition are five black, metal sculptures. Rendered in round, welded steel bars, their stiffness reverses the looseness found in the paintings. Looking the other way, they focus on the rigidity and strength of the line, while still taking the different forms of plant life.
P.S.A.
Works
BLACK AND WHITE PAINTING USING NON-DOMINANT LEFT HAND NUMBER 1
BLACK AND WHITE PAINTING USING NON-DOMINANT LEFT HAND NUMBER 2
BLACK AND WHITE PAINTING USING NON-DOMINANT LEFT HAND NUMBER 3
BLACK AND WHITE PAINTING USING NON-DOMINANT LEFT HAND NUMBER 4
BLACK AND WHITE PAINTING USING NON-DOMINANT LEFT HAND NUMBER 5
BLACK AND WHITE PAINTING USING NON-DOMINANT LEFT HAND NUMBER 6
BLACK AND WHITE PAINTING USING NON-DOMINANT LEFT HAND NUMBER 7
BLACK AND WHITE PAINTING USING NON-DOMINANT LEFT HAND NUMBER 8
BLACK AND WHITE PAINTING USING NON-DOMINANT LEFT HAND NUMBER 9
BLACK AND WHITE PAINTING USING NON-DOMINANT LEFT HAND NUMBER 10
BLACK AND WHITE PAINTING USING NON-DOMINANT LEFT HAND NUMBER 11
BLACK AND WHITE PAINTING USING NON-DOMINANT LEFT HAND NUMBER 12
BLACK AND WHITE PAINTING USING NON-DOMINANT LEFT HAND NUMBER 13
BLACK AND WHITE PAINTING USING NON-DOMINANT LEFT HAND NUMBER 14
BLACK AND WHITE PAINTING USING NON-DOMINANT LEFT HAND NUMBER 15
BLACK PAINTED STEEL SCULPTURE IN OF A MONTANE FOREST
BLACK PAINTED STEEL SCULPTURE IN OF A TREE
BLACK PAINTED STEEL SCULPTURE IN OF BAMBOO
BLACK PAINTED STEEL SCULPTURE IN OF FLOWERS
BLACK PAINTED STEEL SCULPTURE IN OF NETWORK OF TREES
Documentation
