Sand Painting

Sand Painting:

Sand Paintings are created by pouring colored sand through the palm of my hand and releasing it while controlling the flow using my pinky finger. In public spaces like Washington Square Park or Union Square in New York City you can see them being created live in order to engage the public in the larger discussion of the art and metaphors that unfold.  They are inspired by  ancient traditional patterns from around the world, undersea creatures, carnivorous plants, circuitry, DNA in a visual mash-up. Each design is improvised and unique.

When working outdoors the paintings take 6-8 hours to complete on average. This varies with the season, scale and intricacy of design. Indoor works are protected and thus provide the opportunity to make large scale intricate works over several days or weeks without the threat of weather and the elements destroying the work.

In the end, each pieces documented with multiple photos through its process. Documentation is an important aspect to my ephemeral works in a number of ways. It provides photographs to share online and prints for sale. But it also provides a foundation for my permanent works of sand on panel, works on paper and larger projects that utilize the design in more permanent ways.

At the end of the day, each sand painting is swept away using a broom and dustpan. I take a small sample of the mixed colored sand, enough to fill five large test tubes, each test tube is signed, dated and numbered  as an edition of 5, and a series of artifacts are created.