donna e perkins

I steal lines and choreograph them into abstractions. 

The lines for my current paintings were drawn in jhon stronks’ dance class. I drew as the dancers danced. I would begin drawing the line of a dancer’s body, but these drawings are about the dance.  

The graphite lines of my drawings are smeared with layers of acrylic in a play of texture and surface. Much is hidden, or almost hidden, in layers of translucency.  

Pages of discarded books are embedded in many paintings. I have a reverence for books.  I’ve believed that owning books was akin to the possession of knowledge. I’m fascinated by printed words being discarded, becoming irrelevant. Books are becoming an outdated form of communication. Many of the books I’ve used were printed about the same time I was born. I’m thinking about my own relevance and permanence.

Surrounded with these paintings in my studio, I had the sense of the lines breaking free from the canvases and wrapping around me. I felt entangled: entangled in these painting and in other relationships in my life. Thus the title for the show is: Entanglements.

Life Lines: Big Bang graphite and acrylic on canvas. 20" x 20"

Life Lines: Embrace graphite, acrylic and old book pages on canvas, 24' x 16'

Life Lines: Frivolity graphite, acrylic and old book pages on canvas, 24" x 16"

Life Lines: Perfect Indulgence graphite, acrylic and old book pages on canvas, 24" x 16"

contact: donnaeperkins@att.net

For more works by Donna Perkins:  www.donnaeperkins.com