Adrian Tone

Region: Northeast

Website: http://www.adriantone.com

City / State: Brooklyn, NY

I make big pictures that are meant to seem quick and intuitive, like sketchbook drawings. I am attracted to the freedom to experiment that comes naturally when working small, and want to bring that same sense of immediacy to the large works. It is important they don’t look contrived. They are a flash snapshot. The pictures are 4 x 8 feet, a standard sheet of material. They are made with acrylic, pigment, and paper that can then be directly attached to an aluminum sheet. Making them involves painting, printmaking, and photographic mounting processes.

One of the reasons they are vertical is because I want them to be things to be looked at, not landscapes to be looked into. I accept the fact that they are associative (plastic bags, dead skin, transparent veils), but it is important to me they look like an object, a piece of material first. They are both what they are and a representation of themselves. They talk about how they are made: torn, dislodged, washed-up, and patched-up.