Particles, Pathogens, and Phonemes
Our proposal to the Lawndale Art Center focuses on the little things that affect us in big ways. Todd Camplin and Julon D Pinkston are inspired by the small worlds unseens, unnoticed, and often unobserved. Much like a microscope, our art increases these small things and then reinterprets them into abstract art images. When anxiety about viruses, greenhouse gases, and harmful particulates, it is good to take a moment and pause in front of art that hopes to reduce your worries, if only for a moment.
We hope to draw out people's stress by helping them start to imagine a world of the small particle you might see in the Large Hadron Collider. Or maybe image seeing a dusty surface in an electron microscope. Or even small letters from a miniature book with a magnifying glass.
Pinkston’s paintings can easily be seen as small particles that have increased in size so we can observe the surface. His application of paint is impossibly impasto. His use of think-paint attracts the viewer to look closer to work. You get a sense that his paintings naturally grew rather than were painted.
Camplin’s drawings are dense thin linework abstracted from text to the point that the words and letters disappear. Maybe hints of a letter may be visible. His compositions are inspired by his interest in particle physics, crystal growth, and weather patterns. The abstract letters act as a randomizer to create the complete images he draws.
Both Todd Camplin and Julon D Pinkston would like to share their vision of the small worlds to a larger audience at the Lawndale Art Center. We see an exhibition in the second-floor gallery. We think we can impact lives by giving people some time to contemplate and have a little fun in these troubling times.
