Visions at Bittersweet Farms

Latex paint and permanent markers on multilayers pvc boards, 8'x 4', Bittersweet Farms, White House, Ohio 2009. This was a very challenging and special project. I worked with around 10 autistic adults artists and their art instructor Hope Wallace during a two week residency at Bittersweet Farms. Rather than creating new images for the project, I used the great amount of images that this artistc had produced during the last year and create several compositions in Photoshop. After agreeing on the final concept, Hope and I transfered the images to three overlaying pvc panels. I decided to literally build up the layers to facilitate the painting process for the autistic artist since their motor skills and technique were so diverse. Every layer was carved with a jigsaw in orther to let the elements of the previous to come trough as it would do in a 2-d painting. The most challenging thing of all besides remaining true to the original artwork intensity in menaing and color, was to work with the artists and to gain their trust. I did not wanted to romanticize autism, I did asked a lot of questions and my ignorance was overwhelming regarding that disorder. So I set up to celebrate the "bad" day and the "good" day inside each of our lives.