Untitled (Bubbles)

- Painting (Painting)
48 1/4 x 33 inches

Untitled (Bubbles) by Natan Lawson is produced by a marker with a ball-bearing tip, which is drained and refilled with a new color of acrylic paint for each layer. Untitled (Bubbles) is the result of collaging layers of imagery in the computer, before sending coordinates to the plotter which renders it, with some manual intervention of the canvas. Lawson thinks of the process as related to a computerized jacquard loom, where colors are woven and layered. While outward appearances suggest a painting (and the canvas substrate reinforces this) the implement resembles a ball-point pen used in drawing. The results are precise linear marks that cross the entirety of the surface, appearing like a topographic map—an abstracted surface that intimates recognizable objects. The colors and texture of the work resembles hand-dyed fabric, akin to the low-resolution imagery of a woven rug. In this way, the form and content echo the hybridity of its production.

Producing hybrid artworks at the intersection of drawing and painting, Natan Lawson’s work exists in between hand-made and computer-processed. Lawson makes all of his artwork with a computer controlled plotter originally designed to cut vinyl, which has been modified to produce marks with a variety of implements. Lawson uses found imagery, which is scanned and edited in digital form. The images are reused and recombined in shifting scales and color palettes, to produce various iterations, each unique, despite formal and aesthetic echoes. While Lawson continues to experiment with new instruments such as paint brushes, felt tip markers, and airbrush, the linear-fill of color across the surface is akin to his past work with silk-screen printing, often layering many colors to produce singular compositions.

Colors: