Chris Oatey

Gallery Affiliations: CB1 Gallery

Region: West

Website: http://www.chrisoatey.com/

City / State: Denver, CO

My practice is situated in a space where predetermined structures invite random forces to assist in their making. Finished works that serve as documentation of this process are in dialogue with the mechanically reproduced image. Carbon paper allows me to slow down the reception of the work whether I use it to create imagery or sculptural installations.

In my most recent work, snowmelt completes paintings that develop outdoors over the course of several days. As the snow that has fallen on the surface melts, it randomly distributes the layers of pigment. I then reproduce the paintings as drawings, using a carbon paper transfer process. Due to a shift in my working methods, the source paintings for these drawings I once discarded are reclaimed as companion art objects. Each element in the pairing offers an opposing mode of production—paintings assisted by occurrences in nature and drawings made through mechanical labor.