Troy Dugas: Inside Outline
Exploring symmetrical and radial drawings requires concentration and meditation. The lines divide the two-dimensional space and become mystical and alchemical maps used to guide the placement of marks, symbols, lines, texture, color, and pattern. Focused awareness and openness to this map help make critical decisions as the work develops.
Occasional figurative compositions of men, flowers, or animals create levity in the overall work. They are made using the same collage technique and materials and are elevated to a heightened stylization. They provide a different kind of map that is less assertive and organized and suggest a primitive otherworldliness and pathos.
The recent work is made from painted and block-printed papers. Motifs and shapes are printed in a repeating fashion combined with layered painting techniques to create all-over patterns that are shredded into small strips. The same forms are carefully printed row by row creating hundreds of recognizable, individual forms that are carefully cut out. Together strips and shapes are arranged using repetition and intuition guided by original designs that explore the infinite possibilities of radial form, symmetry, and pattern.
Cut and shredded product labels were the primary material for my collages for over 15 years, but for the last several years, I’ve been creating and accumulating my own painted and block-printed papers to explore the workings of the original designs buried underneath.
Influences include the history of textiles, outsider art, and indigenous folk art. Read More
