AL DENYER
(She / her)
Professor
Art & Art History
- ProfessorArt & Art History
RESEARCH INTERESTS
As the viewer steps in and out of a comfortable viewing distance, my work entices questions about what is seen and how we interpret two dimensional work spatially. I create artworks that function beyond the surface; prompting the viewer to look closer, question, interpret and absorb.
I am interested in how space and form can be accurately described two-dimensionally using a linear language. Cartography is heavily referenced in my work, in particular, the use of lines to render form are rooted in map making practices. Similar to topographic lines found in maps, my work leads the viewer through a space addressing questions of how we look at form, and our capability to understand the nuances and distances of the landscape.
Utilizing a painting and drawing technique of building up areas of value using multiple lines, in particular using white charcoal or acrylic ink on black paper or a painted ground, has the effect of aesthetically ‘switching’ the positive with the negative. A positive ‘line’ developed as the result of a negative, has a ‘softer’ feel to it and a physicality.
Through the invention and use of triangulation as a means to accurately map areas of land more than 200 years ago, the understanding and demystification of geographies was revealed. Digital maps not only reveal multiple layers of information, but also place our exact position and progression throughout this space. I am fascinated by how we understand and process these visual mapping complexities, and how the visual language of maps has developed and morphed into a visual interpretation of our surroundings.
I am interested in how space and form can be accurately described two-dimensionally using a linear language. Cartography is heavily referenced in my work, in particular, the use of lines to render form are rooted in map making practices. Similar to topographic lines found in maps, my work leads the viewer through a space addressing questions of how we look at form, and our capability to understand the nuances and distances of the landscape.
Utilizing a painting and drawing technique of building up areas of value using multiple lines, in particular using white charcoal or acrylic ink on black paper or a painted ground, has the effect of aesthetically ‘switching’ the positive with the negative. A positive ‘line’ developed as the result of a negative, has a ‘softer’ feel to it and a physicality.
Through the invention and use of triangulation as a means to accurately map areas of land more than 200 years ago, the understanding and demystification of geographies was revealed. Digital maps not only reveal multiple layers of information, but also place our exact position and progression throughout this space. I am fascinated by how we understand and process these visual mapping complexities, and how the visual language of maps has developed and morphed into a visual interpretation of our surroundings.