In the early 1990's, I found myself in the intertidal zone, known as the back country, of the Florida Keys, pulling plaster images from relief like markings in sand that were produced by the tidal flow of water. This work, an exploration of positive and negative forms which I call "Tidal Reliefs", contain a thin layer of sand transferred from the site from where it was made.
On one early morning boat excursion into the back country, I experienced the horizon fuse with the mirror calm water and sky of diffused, blue light. A disorienting and hypnotic effect took over me as I imagined the earth revolve around its axis as it revolved around the sun and wondered what unseen stars were overhead as our Milky Way Galaxy spiraled through the universe. And where was the moon in its influence over the tides? Everything became all mixed up and one at the same time and I was completely immersed in the center. It was all about movement and influence, time, and perception. I was taking it all in, and who knew how it would all come out.
What began as a form of documenting and collecting tidal imagery evolved into a sculptural practice that consciously moved me from the outside to the inside, to the center of activity where I engage with process: The eventual outcome obtained through physical endurance, observation, and chance.
In 2012, I began a series of "Movement Drawings" based on the "Tidal Reliefs". Gravity and the movement of my body are used to move liquid acrylic and various particulates while rotating the "ground".
The "Movement Drawings" are a visual record, a synthesis of sensory experience; a fluid convergence of color and particulate matter where process influences the emergence of new forms. They are studies for sculptural entities yet to be realized.
Vera Vasek
2021