I stopped by Austin Thomas’s studio yesterday where she and Julie Torres were deep into a twelve-hour artmaking session.
Austin works on a large sketchbook at her desk, which is cluttered with 3-dimensional collage pieces made with scraps from her sketchbooks.
Julie arranges a grid of paper on the floor then paints them in a contemporary version of action painting, combining aspects of time-based performance. In this picture she’s tacking the finished pieces to the wall. Some of Austin’s earlier work is on the wall at left.
Austin holds up a new collage that incorporates a piece of her sketchbook with a figure drawing.
Julie’s work area on the floor is covered in plastic. I suggest that the plastic, which has a colorful grid painted on it, might look good stretched.
Here’s a charming 3-D paper piece that Austin tells me was inspired by her visit to the deKooning show at MOMA earlier in the day.
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Thanks for documenting this. These two have the kind of energy and raw creative talent that must be shouted from the roof tops. I want more!
I'm not getting the social practice element. It looks like 2 artist working in a communal studio space, which doesn't necessarily speak to social practice.
Hi Anon–
Thanks for the comment. The headline was meant to be a play on words rather than a literal description of what Torres and Thomas are up to.
–Sharon