claude chandler

My process of art making is to modernize the traditional portrait by mechanically etching it into text. The digitized rendition transforms and re-invents the subject. When constructing the portrait the conventional process of paintbrush to canvas is eliminated. I make a stamp by using foam letter cut outs. I assemble a name or word which has a connection with my subject. I continuously stamp and layer the print, working almost ‘blind’ but mindful of structure and tonal values. The process might seem very mechanical, however, the formation of the image is very organic as I cannot dictate exactly how the stamps form the portrait. The image finally emerges, transformed in a coded and industrialized web of paint.