Having grown up in the desert, Brooklyn-based artist Shane McAdams often refers back to the landscape in his work and the juxtaposition between organic and man-made spaces, relationships, and materials. His abstract series of ballpoint pen paintings are like ethereal maps of time that have recorded land formations and other natural phenomenon — except he does so with an everyday object and the help of … tanning booths.
After blowing an inky color field through a ballpoint pen cartridge onto panels — which creates a bunch of “sticky interconnected strings” — McAdams takes the piece to a tanning salon. The results have a surprising depth and incredible boldness, yet remain delicate at the same time.
“One thing I’ve figured out is that most pens aren’t lightfast, meaning they fade in UV light. As a result I’ve had to test every type of pen, usually by spreading the ink out, putting tape over half of it … I also cover the ink in UV resin. When really hot, it will activate the ink and cause it to bleed and streak. Hence, the forms you see in most of this new work.”
Head past the break to see what McAdams can do with a pen, and prepare to be amazed.
Image credit: Shane McAdams [Spotted via Fastcodesign]
Image credit: Shane McAdams
Image credit: Shane McAdams
Image credit: Shane McAdams
Image credit: Shane McAdams
Image credit: Shane McAdams
Image credit: Shane McAdams
Image credit: Shane McAdams