Artist's Notes on New Work:

New Work was my first foray into the process that has become the DNA of my ART making, a technique I lovingly explain as industrial papier-mâché of shredded documents and concrete reinforced by wire on linen on board, and completed with thin layers of enamel, oil, and resin. I have utilized this process as my sole form of expression since its beginnings in my studio in 2006.

As integral as this has become to my work, the origination of this process was largely a “happy accident.”
Here are the thought vignettes that led to the ideation of New Work:

1. I was freelancing in the Bechtel building on a large project that involved being around bins of shredded financial documents and PowerPoint presentations that had been output on high quality paper.

2. I was constantly walking outside from work and being confronted by protestors screaming that Bush and Corporatism had become a fascist religion

3. Rather than feeling conflicted politically, I was feeling a profound guilt that I wasn’t investing enough energy into my art development

And as I was running my fingers through a pile of beautiful feeling and stunning micro squares of corporate intelligence, these 3 distinct feelings merged into a single call to action of, “I should take a few bags of this shredded paper and reinvent it into some kind of sculptural tapestry that feels powerful and monumental, and by doing so, redeems my work here into some type of art training exercise… and that’s what I did.

What excites me about this work is that it is broad enough to be so many things to its viewers… about beauty, about power, about activism, about reincarnation, about recycling, about consumerism, about identity.

However; to me, this was about experimentation with something that inherently contained so many identities until I came upon a process to make it feel powerful and monumental far away, but then delicate and multi-faceted when viewed close-up. Isn’t that the actual definition of God?

It was also upon completing New Work that I felt that I had evolved enough as an artist to relocate from San Francisco and to continue working as part of the visual arts in New York.

Themes Explored: Societal Constructs

To see more work from New Work or to read the artist statement, please e-mail me at cs@christopherstout.com.

New Work, Corporation (Potent), 2006. 48"x48": industrial papier-mâché produced from cement and 3 years of shredded corporate financial documents, and finished with oil and varnish washes; supported by wire framing and mounted on canvas on board (160lbs).

Description: Christopher Stout | New Work, Momentrum Tryptic

1. Momentum ONE, (Casting Off Of), 2007. 46"x48,": industrial papier-mâché produced from cement and shredded corporate financial documents and conceptual writing, and finished with oil and varnish washes; supported by wire framing and mounted on canvas on board (170lbs).
2. Momentum TWO, (Often And Alone), 2007. 46"x48,": industrial papier-mâché produced from cement and shredded corporate financial documents and conceptual writing, and finished with oil and varnish washes; supported by wire framing and mounted on canvas on board (210lbs).
3. Momentum Three, (Things Which Are Not Convenient), 2007. 46"x48,": industrial papier-mâché produced from cement and shredded corporate financial documents and conceptual writing, and finished with oil and varnish washes; supported by wire framing and mounted on canvas on board (190lbs).