Vance Wingate | About the Artwork
I develop compositional structures using images based on forms found in typography, illustration, mechanical and scientific drawings. These structures and compositions emphasize differences where the figure and ground are equally present in each part of the work.
My interest lies in what can be added, deleted and manipulated in creating an image. The work indulges my interest in beauty through destruction/adaptation, satisfies an impulse for organization in use of the grid and systematic compositions, and the joy of investigating materials and outcomes.
Talismans for Sullen Entropy
I heard the words ‘sullen entropy’ in a Robyn Hitchcock song many, many years ago and it stuck with me as an elegant way to describe natural forces in the world and also the way I physically make artwork. The ‘Talismans for Sullen Entropy’ series are figures and objects depicted with degraded, overworked surfaces using copious amounts of graphite, oil on canvas or other standard drawing materials. The sullen part is mainly me.
Grid Variations
These are works with a composition based on the grid, even though almost all my work is very grid-centric. I have always worked out designs and compositions using the grid, golden mean, rule of thirds, etc. to develop an image. These are some continuations of those developments, in various modes.
Haskell Avenue Stories
My dogs and I walk every day around our neighborhood, from Haskell Avenue down to Fair Park, through Deep Ellum, around Baylor and through East Dallas. Along the way I find interesting objects, shapes and forms that I collect in my studio. These works are a reflection of thoughts that occur to me when I find these items and ruminate on their past.