Nat Sarkissian

Sunlight filters through the branching forms of rose bushes and lands, dappled, on grass and blocks. This work is thematically about contrast. Between light and shadow, soft and hard forms, natural and unnatural objects.

The expression of this work, digital and physical, is also full of contrasts. The digital work uses computer graphics to synthesize textures and to blend colors in a way that is not possible physically, and yet it is familiar. The physical work is created with acrylic paint applied to cotton paper by means of a pen plotter and paint pens. With sub-millimeter precision, the machine methodically places each mark, following instructions generated by the algorithm. In this case, the visual and tactile texture is entirely a result of the materials and the tools used.

This work follows the example of the impressionists in two ways. In both the final images, and in the code, light and shadow are at the forefront. Conceptually, in the same way that impressionism celebrates brushstrokes, and does not strive to hide artifacts of the medium, this work celebrates the various inaccuracies and idiosyncrasies of the algorithm that is at its core. The objects in the scenes are not solid. They are thin, hollow surfaces and skeletons. For that reason, they sometimes pass through each other in unintuitive ways. These artifacts are not hidden, but celebrated as a reminder of the medium.