Conversations is a short series which I made after Pyramid Suite, completing the six pieces in a short burst from 19-27 September 1997. I don’t remember specific details of this period, and have simply deduced the dates from the timestamps on the digital files.

As a result of the sustained focus on a single unified body of work that I’d had while working on Pyramid Suite, I began to take stock of what, exactly, my work was about. Taking this analytic approach to my work was a new experience because until this time, I had given intuition free reign in my creative practice. As part of the examination of my practice, I looked through hundreds of my drawings and in doing so I recognized that communication was a common thread—people and other beings communicating on multiple levels in myriad ways. I decided to simplify this concept of communication into “conversations” as the theme for my next body of work. Among the questions I asked myself as I developed the series were: How do we converse with ourselves? With others? In what contexts do we find ourselves in conversation?

As with Pyramid Suite, the software forced me to commit to physical dimensions, and this time I made the files 7″ x 5″ (17.5cm x 12.5cm). I chose these dimensions in part because they were a standard size for note cards which at that time I had been exploring as a merchandising possibility for my work. The image proportions—an aspect ratio of 1.4:1—are slightly different than Pyramid Suite, which has a ratio of 1.35:1, and slightly wider still than the 1.33:1 (4:3) proportions of standard video monitors and television screens.

Whereas Pyramid Suite had been done in blocks of twelve pieces, I approached Conversations as blocks of six. I had initially chosen nine sketches and had planned to select more, but for reasons that I now longer remember I didn’t complete any more than the first six images. I’m pretty sure that I simply decided that six pieces was enough, though it’s possible that other responsibilities outside my creative practice forced me to abandon the series. Regardless, by the time I was ready to make new digital pieces again, my creative focus had shifted.

Conversations made its online debut shortly after its completion in 1997 on the same Geocities web site I had set up for Pyramid Suite, and was eventually moved to my spiraldragon.com site.

Conversations 1: Dance (1997)
Digital media, variable size (1.4:1 aspect ratio)

Conversations 2: Duality (1997)
Digital media, variable size (1.4:1 aspect ratio)

Conversations 3: Sounding (1997)
Digital media, variable size (1.4:1 aspect ratio)

Conversations 4: Worship (1997)
Digital media, variable size (1.4:1 aspect ratio)

Conversations 5: Temple (1997)
Digital media, variable size (1.4:1 aspect ratio)

Conversations 6: Embrace (1997)
Digital media, variable size (1.4:1 aspect ratio)