Some artists will never, ever, color outside of the line. For them, accidents are an anathema meant to be erased, gessoed over as quickly as possible, sanded away, and left undetected before the art police sees the evidence (you know who you are and we love you for it). For other artists, accidents are encouraged to occur. These daredevil souls welcome and seek out unpredictability in order to enthusiastically produce their work. Adria Arch dares to tread a fine line between order and chaos to produce her work.
My paintings deal with the accidental flow of materials such as paint drips and sprays, in contrast with the deliberate placement of lines and marks derived from found sources such as doodles and stencils. I seek an interesting and provocative interplay and tension among the elements in each piece. My painting process is one of addition and subtraction until the piece feels resolved.
A recurring element in my work is the use of doodle shapes from my son’s discarded high school notebooks. I discovered pages of his tiny geometric drawings sandwiched between lecture notes and sprinkled in margins. Created in the unselfconscious state typical of doodlers, the shapes seemed to represent a secret, indecipherable language.
The enlargements of the doodles result in expressive, burred lines that I reproduce as closely as possible in paint. While initially I was drawn to the tiny glyphs on a purely visual level, working with them over time has created a visual dialog between myself and my son. I have incorporated these iconic shapes into my practice since 2007, and I continue to find resonance in them as the source for my work.
“Adria Arch: On the Mark”, is currently on display at the Danforth Museum of Art (through June 5). Also, be sure to see her installation at Lesley University Porter Square campus, entitled “La Loba”.
Image credit: Photograph of Adria Arch by Elliot Eichen. All artwork images courtesy of Adria Arch. Pink Constellation, 60″ x 90″, 2009, acrylic on paper; Constellation 1, 2009, 65″ x 65″, acrylic on paper; Black Glyph 1 2009, , 22″ x 15″, acrylic on paper.
Wendy Campbell says
Hi Adria,
I hope I get to see the show. Your work is just dazzling.
Wendy