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Timothy Washington
Timothy Washington's found object assemblage art was
influenced by his family and neighborhood, by his sensitivity to the materials
around him and by God's own creations--which he considers his number one
form of inspiration. He also acknowledges his Grandmother, who made beautiful,
hi-relief quilts and blankets with little treasures tucked inside them,
and his Grandfather, a skillful carpenter. In addition, the artist acknowledges
a professional artist neighbor who let him handle materials when he was
about six or seven, and of course, life itself. He used to walk around
his Watts neighborhood and pick up objects that he could transform and
incorporate into his art.
Washington does not think of himself as self-taught,
as he won a scholarship to the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles
and cites everyone from Gauguin to DaVinci, Michelangelo to Modigliani,
as having been influential at varying times; he does think that "the
gift or the talent comes from God," and he pretty much dismissed
what he was taught in school to fashion his work on a spiritual level
as well as with an intrinsic approach that "comes from our forefathers."
In recent years, Washington's art technique has taken
an unexpected shift. The artist is now creating sculptures covered with
cotton and glue and emphasizes; "I am still picking cotton."
His method is very elaborate and complex. He starts the piece building
a precise and detailed metal armature with recycled metal hangers. Once
this is done, he adds the cotton mixed with white glue. He finishes the
work incorporating pigments, found objects, trinkets and sometimes valuable
antiques or semiprecious stones.
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