2016 Catalogue Archive

Fort Worth artist James Buss rejects the canvas in favor of plaster for his abstract, monochrome paintings. Buss casts plaster with ink in the traditional proportions of a canvas painting, but allows the process and an element of chance to dictate the surface of the finished work. Here, the off-centered blue and black frame restates the rectangular shape of the piece, outlining a blank space filled with faint pools of pigment. Buss confidently handles his medium, playing with the casting process to produce crumbling pockets, air bubbles, and cracks, while manipulating the absorbency of the plaster to produce a variety of effects with ink.