Embraceable Super

Togetherness, strength in numbers; that’s the sense I wanted to capture with Embraceable Super. A stadium holds a special place where we gather. Spaces like this are so innately human from colosseums to ancient Greek amphitheaters. They provide a space to gather, allowing us to bond, passionately be moved and enter into a space of pride and amazement for human’s capabilities.

In my work I'm often capturing textures and showcasing them through cast paint skins or resin. In these pieces I took inspiration in textures that symbolize a joining of strength. I was inspired by textures that have this connectedness of withstanding force down to their form like the netting of a basketball hoop, laces or even down to the streets and boulevards that connect this city. The motif of a woven structure shows the togetherness of a team, an arena full of fans or simply the gridded streets that bring this city together. In togetherness there’s strength.

I am a wrangler of materials - resins, concrete, paint skins. I document their sensuality, textures and their unkempt boundaries. It's a laborious process, hauling the sludge of a freshly mixed concrete, stirring goopy silicons, stretching wet paint over a heavy glass surface. I'm often casting woven motifs that represent humans' innate need to remedy what crumbles around them. The earth changes form and man attempts to put a bandaid on it out of the fear of change. My forms are often overflowing, free of any canvas boundary, all in an attempt to invoke the futility of our efforts.The woven motif that runs through my work recalls those ubiquitous protective shields yet they flow freely, opening out rather than trying to contain.

- Orrin Whalen