Lavori Tenuti Bene

'Tenuto Bene' translates from Italian to both 'well-kept' as well as 'well-held.' To realize these works, I roll the paint onto the canvases, then while the paint is still wet, I wrap them in plastic sheeting as if they were being packed up for shipping or storage. By deliberately disregarding standard, fine art handling and packing procedures, these acts—normally done to prevent aesthetic changes—are turned into a means by which the works are created. After the plastic is removed and the paint has dried, the canvases are then installed onto the wall by means of only the tension from two tightened lashing straps.

The straps themselves are not ad-hoc artistic creations but store-bought, and it is on the basis of these consumer ready products that I determine the color palettes of the painted canvases; inverting the typical relationship of an artists' choice of materials as determined by the aesthetic properties they have in mind for the work.