Charissa Brock

Strata Diatoma

2020

I work primarily with bamboo, and have made it my life's work to explore its potential as an art material. Until the advent of the internet little was known about this material in the USA despite being used for centuries elsewhere in the world. While a graduate student at Tyler, I discovered bamboo while investigating other plant structures. I was mystified by bamboo's structure and started investigating how to use systems to create form using this material. During the course of my investigations I developed techniques I still use today based on creating simple gestures repeatedly. I also use traditional techniques I have learned from Japanese bamboo artists. My material inspires me and keeps me on a quest to learn new ways to conceptualize and execute forms. I see no limit to the potential bamboo has as a sustainable art material and consider it to be one of the materials of the future. Bamboo's physical structure lends itself to being taken apart and reconstructed into patterned structures. To these, I add details with stitching techniques and glass. The glass catches or reflects light. The details draw viewers closer and fill their whole sight line with nuances created by the human hand and nature. When they leave the presence of the piece and walk out into the world, I hope they are reminded that there is beauty in the details and patterns - that looking closely requires being present, and that the present is where life happens. My technical vocabulary is large, and lends itself to creating works both large and small. My inspirations are wide. I spend time looking at the landscape and creatures within it, think about the way the air and water move, and the pattern plants grow in.I also look at the microscopic world for inspiration, fractile patterns, diatoms, and even molecular structures are all inspiring. In addition to this pallet, I add the environment I grew up in in New Mexico and a passion for artifact. I had a pivotal experience while in Rome during graduate school visiting archeological museums with classmates. The ancient artifacts within did not have identifying descriptions in English so my classmates and I had to guess what we were seeing. Everyone had a different idea based on their background experiences. I found this guessing game to be incredibly inspiring and have tried to invoke the same experience in my own work ever since that day by drawing from several references at once and abstracting the forms. As an artwork is coming into being, I have a story, a sense of place, or a reference point in mind. Using a wing, a leaf, or an element or pattern from the landscape, I invoke a story. It is not important for the viewer to translate precisely the references I am making. I want to engage viewers in playing a guessing game inspired by their own lives. Using form and an abstract narrative, I strive to create visual poetry.