Legs Icon (Fledge)

38″ x 20″ x 7″
Pigment, oil, egg, and skin glue on panel
2008

1 of 2 medium-sized Legs Icon pieces made with angled flat panels.

“Fledge” means “to develop feathers large enough for flight.” On the side panels, language-like marks attempt to gather enough form to have meaning, and arrive at the bottom in the two words: “Gold” and “Lead.” An essential metaphor in the alchemical tradition (a path of inner transformation) is the transmutation of base metal into precious metal. I am interested in the relationship between these processes of transformation and that of pigment and vegetable oil into paintings.

On the front panel, the words “Circumambulation of the knowing place” refer somewhat literally to walking in circles. But rather than to suggest futility, I mean to suggest that this is how we know things. It is a Heideggerian model of thought exploration and understanding. We may be standing in the same place we were when we began, but we know much more because we considered each step around the circle.

The text sequence is “Fledge-claym-straynge-stone-own-flown-oh.”