Conflicted Spaces

Davidson Galleries

Artist Statement

John Willis

My most recent series of prints entitled Conflicted Spaces explores spatial

complexity and tensions. For a number of years, I have been investigating the

contradictions between our understanding of space in the physical world and our visual

perceptions. How is it that sometimes forms and space seem three-dimensional and at

other times the space appears flat? In everyday life, we rapidly organize space based on

our experience and knowledge. Yet at times, our perceptions confuse and challenge us.

Inspiration for the structures of my work comes from architectural forms.

Originally, my source material was bridges, tobacco barns, corncribs, horse farm fences,

shipping crates, and wooden forms for pouring concrete. Now, while the forms in my

work remain suggestive of those structures, I am less directly engaged with them. Instead,

I am involved with a more direct investigation of shapes in space. The compositional

strategy I use is an over-all- ness of the picture plane, with small intimate moments

punctuating the design and breaking up the surface. These specific accents are juxtaposed

with large iconic forms. The duality between the central iconic form and the complexity

The process I use to create the prints is a combination of relief and monotype. The

relief gives me stability and the monotype allows the possibility of endless variations,

which I create through multiple monotype techniques, including wiping, splattering,

brushing, daubing, and layering color. The Conflicted Spaces series incorporates a new

element in my work, the addition of “assemblage” shapes. These are made with identical

printed materials and added to the final print to create a new state of the print.

The imagery and the spatial complexity in my work are based on my sense of the

fragility and precariousness of contemporary life: edges seem to contain the large central

mass at the same time the dominant shape appears to be expanding. The principal form

presents a sense of power but one small shape added to the composition can destabilize

the picture plane. Sometimes the central form is split and contains internal tensions as

well. I see the work as representing our lives and struggles. Daily routines can be derailed

by a slight or sometimes violent event. Even the smallest thing—a phone conversation,

maybe—can cause tension, which in turns creates instability and ambiguity.