For many years, the image of the wall has been a recurrent feature in my work. I grew up in racially segregated South Africa, and walls and other sorts of barriers, both physical and psychological, were very much a part of that experience. Yet what I have found is that the repeated use of a metaphorical image has the effect of making it more layered, and so what started as “wall-equals-repression” has become more complex. I think this is because my work is quite process-driven.

These pieces were made in a long, unfinished studio space I have occupied for twenty-five years. A twenty-yard stretch of drywall has been my drawing board. Over the years, it became pockmarked with thousands of pushpin holes, streaks, dribbles, and blotches of paint. Because I work on paper or Tyvek that is pinned to the wall, the texture of these marks appears on the surfaces of my pieces, and I encourage this by scraping and blotting the many layers of thin paint. I love the fact that textures on the wall from previous sessions become part of the history of each new work. In this case, the wall becomes a positive thing. Photos of the studio wall are also collaged into the small panels in my Lost and Found series. So, while this exhibition is about walls, it is also about memory.

Usually, I try to show only recent work, but in this exhibition, I have included a few earlier pieces to suggest how my use of wall images has changed. I was also especially happy to be showing my work in Gallery Cushing Terrell, which is supported by the architecture and design firm of the same name. Walls and other architectonic forms seemed appropriate to the context.

–Garth Claassen