JK: Geometric shapes feature prominently in your work.

Pre-L #18, acrylic on canvas, 203 x 152 cm (80 x 60 in), 2005

LS: Everything I see can be reduced to geometric or organic shape. Dimensionality or the implication of volume is unintentional, the result of material use rather than aesthetic choice.

Girard Avenue Return #70, oil on wood, 37 x 29 cm (14.5 x 11.5 in), 2000

JK: Most of your forms look as if they’re drawn freehand.

LS: My technical concerns utilize a variety of tools and masking techniques as well as the free hand. I relate to the handmade and consider the viewer’s ability to recognize the handmade aspects of my process to be important. I find an artist’s smears, fingerprints and pinholes to be exciting components of the work. These are signatures in themselves, so consequently I sign my name on the back of the piece.

Untitled, mixed mediums on 300 lb. paper, 19 x 14 cm (7.5 x 5.5 in), 2000	Untitled detail

JK: Geometric structure sometimes enters your work by way of the grid.

V/C-F #10, acrylic on wood, 37 x 29 cm (14.5 x 11.5 in), 2004	Med-23, acrylic on 300 lb. paper, 76 x 56 cm (30 x 22 in), 2008

LS: My only conscious use of the grid is in certain backgrounds that respond to fabric and weaving practices.

JK: How would you characterize the space in your paintings?

LS: I’m interested in a stage-type presentation that has a dualistic feeling of flat and deep space. I want my work to read as an interesting object—something one looks at—as well as into. For me, the vertical format has less of a landscape feeling. The picture plane is emphasized and a minimal stage-type space is achieved by placing the majority of the format’s contents toward the bottom edge or front of the stage.

PV #5, acrylic and oil on canvas, 102 x 76 cm (40 x 30 in), 2001

JK: You typically work in series.

 LS: Yes, I usually work on a large number of pieces of the same size and format all at once using a variety of wash and impasto techniques. Normally, I do a series of studies on paper or wood prior to beginning a group of larger paintings. The studies are like stretching exercises before a run and are often more rewarding.

The C-Series below was derived from journal studies and notes completed in Cambodia in 2001 of gate and scaffolding structures.

C-#5, acrylic on wood, 37 x 29 cm (14.5 x 11.5 in), 2002	C-#6, acrylic on wood, 37 x 29 cm (14.5 x 11.5 in), 2002

C-#8, acrylic on wood, 37 x 29 cm (14.5 x 11.5 in), 2002	C-#10, acrylic on wood, 37 x 29 cm (14.5 x 11.5 in), 2002

The Untitled series on 300 lb. rag paper was started prior to my study leave experience in Southeast Asia in 2001 and completed upon my return.

JK: Did you spend much time doing art when you were growing up?

 LS: My first memory of drawing goes back to when I was an only child on a small tenant farm in Northern Indiana. This activity was done either in coloring books or copied from them. Imaginative drawing was something I rarely did. Drawing provided me an escape from an environment and situation that I now regard, as a parent of two, to have been oppressive. Drawing also provided psychological support while I was a soldier during the war in Vietnam and, most importantly, became a means for me to visually express in an abstract manner my observations and feelings.

My high school art teacher suggested that I apply to art school because I could draw better than anyone at our small regional school.  The Herron School of Art in Indianapolis was a private museum school at the time. I was offered a partial scholarship, and, upon my arrival, I visited my first art museum. Two weeks into the program, I changed my major from Commercial Illustration to Fine Art Painting. During the summer between my third and fourth years, I was accepted into the Yale University Norfolk Program for Art and Music. This was my first experience in New England and, more importantly, my first exposure to a New York-based art faculty. Jack Tworkov, George Wardlaw and Al Held had enormous influences on my giving up figuration. During my senior year, I completed my last figurative painting. Constructivism, Modernism, Abstract Expressionism and Minimalism had taken hold.

JK: You began an MFA program at the University of Massachusetts in 1969.

LS: Yes. I was inducted into the US Army at the end of my first semester and served for two years, the last year in Vietnam. Drawing provided a meditative and escapist activity that allowed me to block out reality. I found that I began to use line, mark, shape, form and tone as complete visual elements rather than for merely recording my observations. I used my environment as an indirect reference.

JK: During the late 70s, you produced some paintings and lithographs that were unique in your work through the presence of illusive, reflective shapes.

It seemed the reflective element could define the space by making it less ambiguous.

I did some related lithographs that also included reflective shapes. Their initial designs related to my painter’s discipline, but their completion was mostly technical.

Untitled, 11 color lithograph on 140 lb. paper, sheet size 53 x 76 cm (21 x 30 in), 1978

JK: You refer to your next groups of work in several mediums as the Edges and Corners Series. At this point, you had dropped the reflective elements that clearly receded into space.

Untitled, 9 color lithograph on 140 lb. paper, 56 x 41 cm (22 x 16 in), 1979

LS: Yes. In this series, I was working in a gestural manner with a great deal of reduction. The format’s edges and corners, in addition to the interior shapes, became important compositional tools. I was interested in the visual tensions I could create by manipulating them, and I was attempting to simplify and enhance the elegance of shape and surface. I wanted to encourage the viewer to look both at and into the work.

Edges & Corners #3B, oil on canvas, 178 x 147 cm (70 x 58 in), 1979

Mosque Series, watercolor on 300 lb. paper, 76 x 56 cm (30 x 22 in), 1984	Mosque Series, watercolor on 300 lb. paper, 76 x 56 cm (30 x 22 in), 1984

I attempted earlier works that defined the mosques’ interior atmospheres, but I felt these works failed. So I evolved shapes from mosque rug patterns, lighting and architectural details. I placed the shapes frontally in a shallow, ambiguous space, hopefully inhibiting entry.

I returned to the US in 1984. I worked in a studio in my home and in 1987, purchased my present studio on Girard Avenue in Philadelpha.

Girard Avenue Series #46, oil on 300 lb paper, 57 x 77 cm (22.5 x 30.25 in), 1986	Girard Avenue Series #47, oil on 300 lb. paper, 57 x 77 cm (22.5 x 30.25 in), 1986	Girard Avenue Series #51, oil on 300 lb. paper, 57 x 77 cm (22.5 x 30.25 in), 1986

The Girard Avenue Series is a synthesis of my four years abroad and my move back to Philadelphia. It reflects my responses to the Italian area of Umbria, the Nile River of Egypt, and Eastern Turkey, as well as an inner city working class area of Philadelphia undergoing gentrification with its confusion, rubble, and visual pollution. The above works are examples of this collision.

JK: I find the large dark shapes that increasingly dominate this series have a haunting quality.

Girard Avenue Series #48, oil on 300 lb. paper, 76 x 56 cm (30 x 22 in), 1990	Girard Avenue Series #51, oil on 300 lb. paper, 76 x 56 cm (30 x 22 in), 1990

LS: The Girard Avenue environment was a long way from my studio in Rome. I was responding to what was at hand—an ever-changing environment of gritty, tarred roofs, open lots, utility lines, security wire, crumbling masonry, litter and crime. I felt down at the time, and yet there was visual interest in this working environment. These paintings actually proved to be significant therapy.

Girard Avenue Series #48, oil on canvas, 183 x 137 cm (72 x 54 in), 1990

JK: Soon you were off to teach and travel abroad once again.

LS: I lived in Tokyo from 1991-94 in an area called Fuchi-Shi. Teaching at Temple University, Japan, allowed me to travel throughout Asia, Southeast Asia and Indonesia. During this time, I completed over 500 works on paper that responded to traditional structures, work utensils, and objects of ritual.

Fuchu-Shi #10, mixed mediums on 300 lb. paper, 19 x 14 cm (7.5 x 5.5 in), 1991-94	Fuchu-Shi #12,mixed mediums on 300 lb. paper, 19 x 14 cm (7.5 x 5.5 in), 1991-94	Fuchu-Shi #13, mixed mediums on 300 lb. paper, 19 x 14 cm (7.5 x 5.5 in), 1991-94

The works above are part of a very large series of pieces done in acrylic and oil pastel over collage. Overlays in my work can be thought of as responses to the re-use of materials in utilitarian devices and structures. I would take a quantity of pre-torn paper on my excursions in Japan, Indonesia, Malasia, Thailand and China. I recorded on-site reactions in acrylic wash and would finalize the works upon my return to Tokyo. For example, Fuchu-Shi #13, upper right, was a response to a rope merchant’s antiquated cutting device on the island of Java in Indonesia.

The works in charcoal below are part of my Departure Suite. They are summarizations of my time in Japan and were completed just prior to my return to the US.  There are no specific references in them. The work evolved with an impulsive approach and helped dampen my concerns about returning to the States.

Fuchu-Shi Series, charcoal on 300 lb. paper, 76 x 56 cm (30 x 22 in), 1994	Fuchu-Shi Series, charcoal on 300 lb. paper, 76 x 56 cm (30 x 22 in), 1994

The oils on canvas below were completed in Philadelphia the following year. I was trying to formally and technically minimalize my work from this period.

Fuchu-Shi Series ,oil on canvas, 41 x 30 cm (16 x 12 in), 1995	Fuchu-Shi Series, oil on canvas, 41 x 30 cm (16 x 12 in), 1995

JK: Your next series also involved reflections on time spent abroad.

LS: I had a very difficult time adjusting to the US after three years in Japan with extensive travel throughout Asia. I felt I was out of direct source material. I was able to get grants from Temple University for the purpose of analyzing and editing the large body of work I’d completed abroad. Thus in this series, I was responding to my own finished pieces rather than working directly from journal sketches and notes.

Girard Avenue Return #73, oil on wood, 36 x 30 cm (14.25 x 11.6 in), 2000	Girard Avenue Return #61,oil on wood, 36 x 30 cm (14.25 x 11.6 in), 2000

The resulting Girard Avenue Return works represent a synthesis of many years of research abroad. The paintings in this series were not a direct response to the specifics of the cultures I’d lived and worked in. Rather, I made individual pieces based on groups of work, continuing to explore the physical and, for me, meditative process of producing many same-sized works that were similar in surface, material and process.

Girard Avenue Return #103, acrylic and oil on canvas, 168 x 122 cm (66 x 48 in), 2000

Girard Avenue Return #102, acrylic and oil on canvas, 168 x 122 cm (66 x 48 in), 2000	Girard Avenue Return #98, acrylic and oil on canvas, 168 x 122 cm (66 x 48 in), 2000

JK: You also made some sculptures during this period.

LS: For the past 30 years I’ve been altering found, purchased and traded-for objects I’ve been drawn to. The rationale for any one choice is difficult and complex to explain; however, I do tend to respond to utilitarian devices, whether new, used or discarded. The shapes generated by these sculptures often find their way into my paintings.

Altered Grass Cutter, 25 cm tall (10 in tall), 1998	Altered Brush Handle, 20 cm tall (8 in tall), 1998	Altered Shrine Cup, 10 cm tall (4 in tall), 1998

The sculptures above are part of 20 completed in 1998 during a two-month period when I was reconsidering what my painting was about. To me, they are 3-D drawings. A few have become friends.

JK: You began another series prior to going abroad again—this time a study leave to Vietnam and Cambodia.

PV#2, oil on canvas, 102 x 76 cm (40 x 30 in), 2001	PV #6, oil on canvas, 102 x 76 cm (40 x 30 in), 2001

LS: I began the above paintings before leaving and completed them upon my return. I felt the work lacked tension, and I used these paintings as an entry into a new body of work. I overlaid geometric, hard-edge shapes that were taken from my study leave drawing journal. I wanted to superimpose radical shapes and colors to create unique and questionable combinations. The outcome was successful, but revealed that oil paint was too awkward a medium for my interests. I needed to stain, wash and repaint my surfaces with a material that dried faster and was less technically challenging. Acrylic paint suited this purpose.

PV #10, acrylic on canvas, 152 x109 cm (60 x 43 in), 2002	PV #11, acrylic on canvas, 152 x109 cm (60 x 43 in), 2002

My next several series were made as a result of study leave to Vietnam and Cambodia. Technically, the grounds in these works were influenced by the traditional fabric coloring techniques I researched in the Red River Valley of northern Vietnam and the Angkor region of central Cambodia.  Formally, the grounds were influenced by the light conditions, environments and atmospheres I observed and documented during almost 3500 miles of travel by land and water during this two-month period. The central frontal shapes evolved from a variety of things I observed and found to be of interest.

C #14, acrylic on canvas, 97 x 71 cm (38 x 28 in), 2002	C #12, acrylic on canvas, 97 x 71 cm (38 x 28 in), 2002

For example, in C #14, the central shape was derived from a Buddhist shrine under restoration that had been extremely damaged by the Khmer Rouge and was covered with bamboo scaffolding. The background decision was due to the setting sun of the moment and the fact that I was suffering from a five-hour truck ride over damaged roads.

The central shapes in C #12 were derived from staked reed fishing traps used along river banks, and the background relates to the extremely warm afternoon light along the Tonle Sap River in central Cambodia.

C #11, acrylic on wood, 37 x 29 cm (14.5 x 11.5 in), 2002	D #13, acrylic on wood, 37 x 29 cm (14.5 x 11.5 in), 2002

V/C-F #77, acrylic on wood, 37 x 29 cm (14.5 x 11.5 in), 2004	V/C-F #106, acrylic on wood, 37 x 29 cm (14.5 x 11.5 in), 2004

LS: The Vietman/Cambodia Final Series was evolved with a specific 2004 exhibition installation in mind. The two works above are part of a group of 69 pieces, and occupied a 30′ wall width. With this exhibition, I attempted to finalize a chapter of my research.

JK: The large paintings below represent summary statements of your travel experiences to that point in time.

Pre-L #19, acrylic on canvas, 203 x 152 cm (80 x 60 in), 2005	Pre-L #20, acrylic on canvas, 203 x 152 cm (80 x 60 in), 2005

LS: The evolution of these paintings was like emptying a drawer of over 30 years of visual travel memorabilia onto ample surfaces and then playing a picture-making game. I painted three such works simultaneously, adding and subtracting similar elements in each. These compositions or stage sets are comprised of shapes, colors, lines, textures, patterns and opacities/transparencies from a host of cultures. I was interested in creating a third world urban tension in contradiction to a quiet atmospheric background.

JK: Some of the works on paper from this series have more specific references.

Pre-L #1, acrylic on 300 lb paper, 76 x 56 cm (30 x 22 in), 2005	Pre-L #6, acrylic on 300 lb paper, 76 x 56 cm (30 x 22 in), 2005

LS: Pre-L #1 combines journal studies from a number of days on the muddy canals of the Mekong Delta, Vietnam, where I witnessed agrarian life revolving around fishing, rice farming and fish farming. Pre-L #6 combines journal studies from a two-day excursion up river from Hue, Vietnam, on route to an ancient temple complex that survived the Vietnam/American War.

Med-10, acrylic and oil on 300 lb. paper, 76 x 56 cm (30 x 22 in), 2008	Med-41, acrylic on 140 lb. paper, 38 x 28 cm (15 x 11 in), 2008

My most recent work, as seen above, deals with the notion that “less is more.” I’ve attempted to be more selective in the configuration and number of shapes used.

V/C-F #33-Revised, acrylic on canvas, 102 x 76 cm (40 x 30 in), 2007	V/C-F #33 Revised detail

The more I paint, the more the process becomes a meditative exercise. At this point, I find it necessary to minimize the number of visual elements per format, to juxtapose them in a simple configuration, and to create a variety of shape characters generated from observation and process.

VC/F #38-Revised,acrylic on canvas, 102 x 76 cm (40 x 30 in), 2007	VC/F #45-Revised, acrylic on canvas, 183 x 137 cm (72 x 54 in), 2007

I now require further input, and will be spending time in the near future in Ireland—influences to be determined—and Laos to investigate traditional weaving techniques and design motifs, with future research plans in India.

Larry Spaid in his Philadelphia studio (photo credit Susan Fenton)

 More about Larry Spaid at: larryspaid.com

Interview images and text copyright © 2008 Julie Karabenick & Larry Spaid. All Rights Reserved.