"Ruins, for me, are the beginning."

                                                                                                                                     Anselm Keifer

scars, gravity, and paint

I drive down the road and see a place or a name that triggers an immediate response. These locations are always in rough condition: messy, dirty, rusty and in forms of disrepair. These sites have been either a source of conflict, social unrest, economic despair, or oppression. A visual record is made of those sites. I always have to look at the underbelly of those places and convey it in my work. Usually halfway through the process, the paint takes over. Color has its own direction and new variations suddenly appear. Chisels, electric sanders, grinders, drywall knives, and razor blades are brought out to redefine the image. Marks disturb the surface. Re-dos are evident, occurring over and over again. Construction lines show scars of false beginnings. Structures stretch or shrink, windows and doorways are added or subtracted, darkened or lightened. Shapes are reduced. Skies are bigger, smaller, grayer or brighter. The primitive scratch marks become the foundation to begin the layout procedure. The applied paint refuses to stay in the lines. Colors bleed, scar, overlap, spread and stain. The marks are strong and expressionistic and gouge the surface. The pigment gets lost in the crevices. The surface clamors for evidence of the human hand. The process is a struggle and can occur over a period of several months, with layers and layers of decisions and paint applications.

Randy Akers

Skidaway Island, Georgia,

2023