FLOWERS FROM MEMORY (VII)

Close Crush refers to the unseen moment when the inked plate meets paper: the printmaker’s magic of positioning these two elements under pressure, calibrated just so, to create something new. Read another way, Close Crush may indicate nearness and adoration, pointing to the early, swooning stage in Humphreys and McMullen’s relationship that ultimately landed them married with a child. Through the double meaning of Close Crush, the artists also signal a desire to transmit intimate moments of life via image and material.  With Flowers from Memory, seven paint stick monotypes, McMullen punctuates this show with an expressive flourish, perhaps as an ode to Cheryl, his wife and collaborator. The prints feature scrawling marks drawn with sensitivity and urgency that denote pistons, petals, and stems in carnation pink, violet iris or daffodil yellow. There is a frenzied romance to these, a desire to nail down an image before the kid wakes up, before the paintstick dries, before the studio time runs out. Drawing flowers from memory is maybe one way to cope with the Close Crush of a chore list, to embrace beauty and chance despite many to-do’s and alongside the realization that our time here is fleeting.