Laurie Danial: I'm This, I'm That

11 October - 26 November 2022
Fundamentally, painting is layer upon layer, and by trial and error, structure slowly emerges, bringing forth content.

UNSCRIPTED AND PROCESS-DRIVEN is how I describe my practice. Even as a kid, embracing uncertainty and tapping into stream of consciousness was my preferred means to uncovering a narrative that was previously unknown to me. Content in my case, emerges from the act of making and not the other way around. There are so many big and small aspects to making a painting—instinctual, analytical, conscious and unconscious--not to mention good old muscle memory. Fundamentally, painting is layer upon layer, and by trial and error, structure slowly emerges, bringing forth content. Until I begin to engage with the materials and this process I can’t realize an outcome. 

I’m This, I’m That, also a title of a song by Moondog and a metaphor for this show, serves as an explanation of how I approached this current body of work. For two plus years I’ve allowed myself to hopscotch around stylistically. I used the passing of time, my impulses and various influences to break free of continuity and explore whatever grabbed me in the moment. Like an act of call and response in music, this became an opportunity to discover something new. I’m This, I’m That, brings to my mind a line from Whitman’s, Leaves of Grass: “I am large, I contain multitudes.”