The Black Boarders

Last year, I had two different commissions request I do not add my typical black border to the painting.

That will be the last time I ever make a painting without the borders again. They are crucial to the work. That’s what those two paintings taught me, which was something I suspected all along.

The borders are a spatial device. They are a lighting device. They serve as a rigid bolster to support the juxtaposed softness. The softness is begging to be contained. They are black because black is anti-light. This improves the luminosity of soft elemental part of the work. Bold/ soft, fortified/formless, dark/light, empty/vibrational. These paradoxes drive the work.