1/1 NFT of a mixed media oil painting
4945 px x 6000 px
300 dpi
Stabilize 11, in the physical form, is 36 in by 30 in by 1.5 in created in 2021 by Veronica Bruce Woodward. The bottom portion is made up of torn up strips of paintings on canvas from the artist's past. These works ranged from 2009 to 2020. Each strip has a black metal grommet towards the center of it. The top portion is canvas stretched over three sides of the frame with gesso and oil paint. The work is from her Stabilize Collection created in 2021 and continuing into 2022.
"I have a very process based practice in which I thrive on the reuse of previous portions of paintings to make anew. I moved from Chicago to San Diego in July of 2019 and with that move, I chose to either sell, throw away, gift or keep some of my work. In the Stabilize Collection I revisited my portions of old paintings from Chicago and methodically tore them into 1 to 2 in strips. I added a black grommet towards the center of each strip as a continuation of my symbolic use of the circle and referencing a central axis. I overlapped and stretched them over stretcher bars. The process engages all of my senses with the loud sound of tearing, hammering grommets, pulling the staple gun trigger repeatedly and moving around a frame on the ground. It is a physically engaging procedure and one that is very grounding. I incorporated new, fresh surfaces with these works to play with the contrast of image and object and bring them even more into the present. With only three sides available to be stretched, it leaves a unique curved edge to contrast with the strips. The loss of the necessary fourth side to receive the appropriate amount of tension is a tricky problem to solve. The push and pull of tension is embedded in these pieces. The new surfaces hold a contrasting energy to the strips with allusions to atmospheric hazes and auras. The grommets also refer to vertebrae, chakras and points of perfection as well as being functional objects which protect or prevent tearing. The grommets begin to slightly align towards the center but are always a bit off. Each work is finding stabilization in various ways, with compositional choices and the tension of the canvas and strips being stretched."
The physical painting is in a private collection in California in the United States.
