19″x10″x4″
Pigment, oil, skin glue and 24kt gold leaf on curved panel
2008
1 of 8 divination tablets. 1 of 4 which have one side of pure gold (24kt). These are the newest and final pieces in the Legs Icon group.
The divination question here is: “Will I won’t I.” What do you think? Seems like I (we) will.
19″x10″x4″
Pigment, oil, skin glue and 24kt gold leaf on curved panel
2008
1 of 8 divination tablets. 1 of 4 which have one side of pure gold (24kt). These are the newest and final pieces in the Legs Icon group.
The divination question here is “Whose life is this.” I am consistently, persistently lucky. This is a question I often ask myself.
19″x10″x4″
Pigment, oil, skin glue and 12kt gold leaf on curved panel
2008
1 of 8 divination tablets. 1 of 4 which have one side of white gold (12kt) – 50% gold and 50% silver – yin and yang are equalized. These are the newest and final pieces in the Legs Icon group.
This figure looks like another traveler. The divination question here is “Where might and what.” The reds are iron oxide and cinnabar, and the blues are lapis.
19″x10″x4″
Pigment, oil, skin glue and 24kt gold leaf on curved panel
2008
1 of 8 divination tablets. 1 of 4 which have one side of white gold (24kt). These are the newest and final pieces in the Legs Icon group.
The divination question here is “When.” The emergent form/symbol seems to suggest something passing….
19″x10″x4″
Pigment, oil, skin glue and 12kt gold leaf on curved panel
2008
1 of 8 divination tablets. 1 of 4 which have one side of white gold (12kt) – 50% gold and 50% silver – yin and yang are equalized. These are the newest and final pieces in the Legs Icon group.
The divination question here is: “In what way and what was said.” The figure in the opening looks like he is going somewhere. It struck me that one can be a naysayer, a yeasayer, but it is more interesting and productive to say neither yes nor no, but instead describe the way.
19″x10″x4″
Pigment, oil, skin glue and 12kt gold leaf on curved panel
2008
1 of 8 divination tablets. 1 of 4 which have one side of white gold (12kt) – 50% gold and 50% silver – yin and yang, sun and moon, are equalized. These are the newest and final pieces in the Legs Icon group.
The divination question never became words on this one. The question and the answer emerge in a kind of turtleback pattern. Some of the earliest symbolic language was etched into turtle shells thousands of years ago in what is now China. The forms were also arrived at via divination.
75″x40″x13″
Pigment, oil, skin glue on curved panel
2008
1 of 4 large Legs Icon pieces. 1 of 2 that are painted on both sides.
The forms are more figural than I usually work with. They feel strong and strange.
75″x40″x13″
Pigment, oil, skin glue on curved panel
2008
1 of 4 large Legs Icon pieces. 1 of 2 that are painted on both sides.
Both sides have a swarming feel to me. The inside form feels human and atavistic, the outside form feels like a nest. The gold brush strokes are 24kt gold flakes ground and mixed with walnut oil to make paint.
75″x40″x13″
Pigment, oil, skin glue and 12kt gold leaf on curved panel
2008
Collection of Heather Masse Duncan
1 of 4 large Legs Icon pieces. 1 of 2 that are gilded with white gold.
“Sunder” means to split apart. This form seems on the one hand feminine and receptive, and on the other hand a tool to divide or discern. The text on the painting reads: “between the sheets and presidents, history got made.”
75″x40″x13″
Pigment, oil, skin glue and 12kt gold leaf on curved panel
2008
1 of 4 large Legs Icon pieces. 1 of 2 large pieces with white gold leaf covering one side.
The spiraling and the trinity form feel essential in some broader way to me. I haven’t figured out its meaning yet.
19″x10″x4″
Pigment, oil, skin glue and 12kt gold leaf on curved panel
2008
1 of 8 divination tablets. 1 of 4 which have one side of white gold (12kt) – 50% gold and 50% silver – yin and yang are equalized. These are the newest and final pieces in the Legs Icon group.
Divination in this case means to hold a question in your mind, and then let intuition and chance guide you to a symbol or form. This emergent symbol or form is taken then to be the answer to the question, and is interpreted to give clarity. The divination question for this painting is “Really” – which is to say – what is really real? and also to express doubt if the word is inflected one way, and certainty is it is inflected the other way.
I have come to see the creative act as an act of divination – but I haven fleshed out this concept yet. Check back in on the website for essays on the matter over the next couple months.
Also inscribed is “Disce Pati, Disce Cantere” which means “Learn to suffer, learn to sing.” (Latin) “Disce Pati” is the Duncan clan motto from way back when, and “Disce Cantere” is my riff on that. I have these words tattooed on the right side of my rib cage.
19″x10″x4″
Pigment, oil, skin glue and 24kt gold leaf on curved panel
2008
1 of 8 divination tablets. 1 of 4 which have one side of pure gold (24kt). These are the newest and final pieces in the Legs Icon group.
The divination question here is: “To what end.” This text is etched into the surface of the painting. This was the fist divination piece. The emergent form seems to suggest ascent in some way.
19″ x 10″ x 4″
Pigment, oil, egg, and skin glue on curved panel
2008
Collection of William and Cynthia Duncan
19″ x 10″ x 4″
Pigment, oil, egg, and skin glue on curved panel
2008
Collection of William and Cynthia Duncan
1 of 5 of the first generation of small free-standing pieces.
The words “Legs Icon” – the title of this group of paintings, and of the exhibition - first appeared on this painting. The words “Ce La” are French for “this” or literally, “this here”, which is a riff on the presence of absence – or re-presenting something that is of another realm. Also, as the words are arranged on the painting, if read from bottom to top, like text on pavement (for example, “STOP AHEAD”)– a sign for travelers – it reads as LA CE. This can be understood as “Here This” or “Hear This,” or simply “Lace.” It is an exploration of the relationship between body and spirit, sexiness and sacredness. Other text in the painting: “The sex of the church;” “Et al” (suggesting authorship by many people rather than just Ian); “Long;” “Slow.”
19″ x 10″ x 4″
Pigment, oil, egg, and skin glue on panel
2008
1 of 2 small Legs Icon pieces made with angled flat panels.
“Weather” is how we articulate the conditions or attributes of a liminal space (a space that is neither here nor there). From one perspective, my paintings can be seen as making present here in this world things from out there: that mysterious place that is the source of creativity, perhaps of creation.
19″ x 10″ x 4″
Pigment, oil, egg, and skin glue on panel
2008
1 of 2 small Legs Icon pieces made with angled flat panels.
One of the pleasures and strengths of the painted image and object is the tension between the moment and duration. “Now” means to evoke this aspect and spend some time with it.
19″ x 10″ x 4″
Pigment, oil, egg, and skin glue on curved panel
2008
1 of 5 of the first generation of small free-standing pieces. 3 sold before the exhibition, and this is 1 of 2 available tonight.
A possible interpretation: on the outside a threshold space, with an invitation; on the inside an animal or human form to guide or greet the visitor.
19″ x 10″ x 4″
Pigment, oil, egg, and skin glue on curved panel
2008
Collection of Hank Thiel
19″ x 10″ x 4″
Pigment, oil, egg, and skin glue on curved panel
2008
Collection of Zhongxian Wu
37.5″ x 20″ x 7″
Pigment, oil, egg, and skin glue on curved panel
2008
1 of 2 medium sized Legs Icon pieces made with curved panel.
The emerging form again seems human and atavistic. A net, a shroud, again, a liminal space.
38″ x 20″ x 7″
Pigment, oil, egg, and skin glue on curved panel
2008
1 of 2 medium sized Legs Icon pieces made with curved panel.
“Utter” in this case means both “absolute, outer limits” and “to make a sound.” These paintings present and traverse limits, thresholds. The word also evokes “udder,” and suggest the way in which the paintings are intended to provide sustenance in some way. The form on the outside of the panel seems motherly, and suggest birth.
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.”
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.
Some of the text that happened on this painting: “Make thee another self for love”; “Circumambulation of the wanting place”; “Full”; “Wist”; “Legs”; “Voice”; “Fill me.”
“Wist” is the past participle of “wit.” Its roots are Germanic and Sanskrit words for “knowledge” and “sight.”
20″ x 20″ x 2″
Pigment, oil, egg, and skin glue on panel
2008
Collection of Jessica Orkin
20″ x 20″ x 2″
Pigment, oil, egg, and skin glue on panel
2008
Collection of Graham Duncan
20″ x 20″ x 2″
Pigment, oil, egg, and skin glue on panel
2008
Collection of Elizabeth Hill
20″ x 20″ x 2″
Pigment, oil, egg, and skin glue on panel
2008
Collection of Leeza Doreian
20″ x 20″ x 2″
Pigment, oil, egg, and skin glue on panel
2008
1 of 9 of the first group of paintings on curved panel, finished in January 2008. 1 of 5 that remain, and are included in the exhibition.
By “mean” I mean meaning (not “unkind”). The text on the painting is “This time I meant it.” This common statement struck me as an interesting phrase because when someone says it, you can be quite sure that it is false. So, in many ways, context is more important that grammatical sense with respect to meaning. And in the context of text and texture and symbol and meaning and color and space (i.e. in the context of painting) this is an interesting and fun idea to play with.
20″ x 20″ x 2″
Pigment, oil, egg, and skin glue on panel
2008
1 of 9 of the first group of paintings on curved panel, finished in January 2008.
By “cours” I mean to lead you to think of “course,” corps,” “of course.” On the painting it appears as “dis – cours” – suggesting text or conversation. Also implying “dis” “corps” or “this” “body.” Text…body…speech…communication.
Other textual play on this panel: “A page out of this man’s book;” “drawl” – which might suggest both drawing and speech; “lilt” – another speech pattern.
20″ x 20″ x 2″
Pigment, oil, egg, and skin glue on panel
2008
1 of 9 of the first group of paintings on curved panel, finished in January 2008.
“A world without land” some one said, looking at this painting. I like that. Curved and deep space. Playing with the perceptual possibilities of the curved panel. A chart to uncharted waters.
20″ x 20″ x 2″
Pigment, oil, egg, and skin glue on panel
2008
1 of 9 of the first group of paintings on curved panel, finished in January 2008.
The title means to suggest “shield well” or “effectively” and also “well” like the hole in the ground – the source of water. Some of the text moments are: “Welling over”; “like a cup”; “crippled me and gave me wings”; “inside of me inside of you.”
20″ x 20″ x 2″
Pigment, oil, egg, and skin glue on panel
2008
1 of 9 of the first group of paintings on curved panel, finished in January 2008. 1 of 5 that remain, and are included in the exhibition.
The title just to point out that it interesting to think of what it is “to shield” as well as what it is to be a shield. And to be on the ‘wrong’ side of a shield, but to be invited in (which I think these paintings do).
20″ x 24″
Pigment, oil, egg, and skin glue on panel
2008
1 of 2 Shroud pieces.
The text behind the veil of the grid and the thumb prints was improvised on the painting and later became the poem “what was this what was that.”
20″ x 24″
Pigment, oil, egg, and skin glue on panel
2008
Collection of Charlie Ledley
1 of 2 Shroud pieces.
Many of my paintings are developed at a critical moment by a magical oops. This is in part why it is impossible for the same thing to happen twice. In this painting the grid/veil/shroud was made by etching into the panel. I then filled it paint of a slightly different composition, and in the subsequent dozens of layer of glazes and sanding, the grid became raised rather than inset. I think the oil I use to fill the etching lines must have been boiled for longer, or something, because that paint was more resilient to the sanding and what not. I wish I could make it happen again!
Ian is a painter, poet and qin player living in the Catskills (New York).
Mailing List
RSS Feed
Facebook