Chandler Wigton, our Associate Director of Events & Studios visited George in his studio to learn more about him and his practice!
What new art are you working on currently?
What is your process?:
Recently George has been developing a body of art three-dimensional installation pieces called Floats. They are kinetic pieces that hang in space with elements that can move independently from one another and balance precariously in the air sometimes from fishing line. The materials he is using include mostly found objects George sourced from the Mississippi River while he was living in New Orleans—sticks, discarded pieces of river foam from barges that appear like river rocks, fishing lures, hooks, bobbers, and different colored twine. The materials are then altered and worked on, and assembled in a way that is intuitive yet deliberate with great care and attention paid to color schemes and the relationship and orientation of the objects to one another. The sticks are whittled and sanded, knots are removed, holes are filled with wood filler until there is a smoothness and uniformity that suites each piece. The sticks are spray-painted different colors and wrapped in colored twine. The twine is made from unraveled larger strands of rope that were also found in the river likely from river barges, buoys, or cruise-liners. Many of the foam pieces are also spray-painted; some are left as they were found, leaving the texture, color, and patina of the natural decaying process intact. Most pieces are suspended in the air so that the viewer may walk completely around them, while some of the pieces are mounted to the wall in such a way to still emphasize their three-dimensionality. The results are striking when viewing these pieces in dialogue with one another, the objects creating a playful and improvisational conversation. Strikingly the foam pieces resemble stone, which gives a certain visual illusion of weight to the pieces. The installation conveys a jazzy improvisational tenor while at the same time revealing a very careful and deliberate gathering, collecting, arranging and craftsmanship on display.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
Some of the influences George is thinking about when creating this body of work are the color schemes of festival season in New Orleans, flag designs in general, architecture and the urban landscape, and how people navigate and relate to the built and natural environment. One practice he mentioned was that he collects architectural magazines, and spends time just cutting out pictures of buildings and making collages with them. Other extracurricular interests of George’s include learning about the power grid, nuclear energy, and the challenges of energy policy in America.
Do you have any exhibits or exciting projects coming up that you want to share, or past exhibits you want to highlight?
George has a background in photography and two-dimensional work, and the move into more experimental three-dimensional work first started when he did an artist residency in Mexico. There he began experimenting with materials that eventually led to the Floats, which, while is a portion of the work he does, is a current focus. About a year ago George installed some of these pieces outdoors in an experimental art installation he was invited to participate in curated by Isabelle Kessler and Loren Kahn of the Puppet Object Theater here in Albuquerque. Currently he is exploring other installation and exhibition opportunities for the work.
What music have you been listening to lately?
When it comes to music George thinks of himself as an “equal opportunity listener”, and lets his ear guide him. He enjoys rap, cumbia, Americana & folk, off-beat indie, classical, and instrumental music—a little bit of everything. Often when he is in the studio he will put on film scores from minimalist composers such as Philip Glass or newer classical composers such as the arrangements of Nicholas Britell or Emile Mosseri.