CANAL presents:
MAYA LUJAN
­­Studio Photographs  

(Above)
Maya Lujan
BlackWhiteFoil, 2011
24 x 54 inches
Digital, fiber-based print
Edition of 3

Maya LujanUntitled (Black Magic painting in action), 2011
27 x 36 inches
Digital, fiber-based print
Edition of 3

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Maya Lujan
Untitled (White with suspension), 2011
27 x 36 inches
Digital, fiber-based print
Edition of 3

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Maya Lujan
Foil painting in action, 2011 
27 x 36 inches
Digital, fiber-based print
Edition of 3

ARTIST STATEMENT

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These photographic series are a manner in which to set foot into what would be considered more performative based work. They are also a means to document the current interstitial place I am located in my work and time.
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These photographs are also in consideration of a recent solo show called The Gap, (2010) at Jancar Gallery in Los Angeles. While painting and generating work for the exhibition, there was a high degree of muscular activity involved or a very hands- on approach to the work. This involved moving the painting substrates to the floor, moving them back up on a table, then back to the floor in a larger room, rigging tilted drying mechanisms, putting them back on the wall, etc. Regarding the paint, this would be the activity of poring large 5’ x 20’ puddles, peeling up the paint, taking the “paint material”, and folding, cutting and measuring it as one does with fabric. I found that I was able to make the paint exactly resemble draped fabric, which was very theatrically arranged over hanging wood frames. The overall effect was that similar to a masquerade in which the paint, although it seemed like the most prevalent factor, obscured the substrates, only to further conjure up the sculptural aspects and dimensions of the paintings. These sculptural paintings have a strong relationship to performance. In this way, the photographs act to describe the notion of an extended object outside of the body yet representative of it.
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In this series, I am literally the paint support in the backdrop of the studio space and a shift and manner of generating work is transparent in the photographs. This work is in anticipation of a future show that will involve a costume made of paint combined with the action of moving large objects in an environment; a fusion of performance, painting and installation.       
-Maya Lujan

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Photos (c) Ben Duggan