Just Like That

Art

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HCC Permanent Art Collection

Just Like That: “Around 2006 I listened to an NPR program about a collection of letters and poems by veterans and family members reflecting on their war experiences - the everyday type rather than the heroic ones we often read about. These were compiled and published in a book called Operation Homecoming. One such piece, read during the program, was “Clusters,” a poem written by Maj. Robert Schaefer (now Lt. Colonel) who served in Iraq. The poem struck me hard with the vivid imagery it evoked. I was able to find the piece online, printed it off and stuck it on my studio bulletin board. A few years later, I was creating a series of watercolor patterns to use for collage purposes. The bubblegum pink of one of the sheets kept resonating with me, reminding me of something. That something was ‘...a bubble gum pop, then cotton candy chunks...,’ a line in the “Clusters” poem. That color along with the shard shape patterns of grays that had also emerged, came together with the compelling imagery of the poem to form ‘Just Like That.’” The patterns for this piece, and other similar works, were created with leftover scraps and shapes from YUPO (a synthetic paper). The patterns were attached to a surface sheet and then a sheet of YUPO was laid over that. Watercolor was applied on the YUPO and moved about with brush and sponge, revealing various patterns from the shapes below (a process referred to as frottage). Several different sheets were painted in this fashion, each a different color. After the paint has dried, I look for interesting shapes that have occurred. Those are cut out and recombined as compositional possibilities are explored. At some point, an interesting pattern and/or story begins to emerge, as with "Just Like That.". The piece is then composed and developed accordingly. - Lynn Foskett
Just Like That

“Around 2006 I listened to an NPR program about a collection of letters and poems by veterans and family members reflecting on their war experiences - the everyday type rather than the heroic ones we often read about. These were compiled and published in a book called Operation Homecoming. One such piece, read during the program, was “Clusters,” a poem written by Maj. Robert Schaefer (now Lt. Colonel) who served in Iraq. The poem struck me hard with the vivid imagery it evoked. I was able to find the piece online, printed it off and stuck it on my studio bulletin board. A few years later, I was creating a series of watercolor patterns to use for collage purposes. The bubblegum pink of one of the sheets kept resonating with me, reminding me of something. That something was ‘...a bubble gum pop, then cotton candy chunks...,’ a line in the “Clusters” poem. That color along with the shard shape patterns of grays that had also emerged, came together with the compelling imagery of the poem to form ‘Just Like That.’” The patterns for this piece, and other similar works, were created with leftover scraps and shapes from YUPO (a synthetic paper). The patterns were attached to a surface sheet and then a sheet of YUPO was laid over that. Watercolor was applied on the YUPO and moved about with brush and sponge, revealing various patterns from the shapes below (a process referred to as frottage). Several different sheets were painted in this fashion, each a different color. After the paint has dried, I look for interesting shapes that have occurred. Those are cut out and recombined as compositional possibilities are explored. At some point, an interesting pattern and/or story begins to emerge, as with "Just Like That.". The piece is then composed and developed accordingly. - Lynn Foskett

Name/Title

Just Like That

Entry/Object ID

2019.8.1

Description

Abstract watercolor frottage on yupo collage, with many red tones mixed with black and grey.

Collection

HCC Permanent Art Collection

Made/Created

Artist Information

Artist

Lynn Foskett

Role

Artist

Date made

2010

Location

Category

Gallery3 DLRC 2nd Floor

Category

Storage

Exhibition

HCC Permanent Art Collection

Interpretative Labels

Label Type

Artist Commentary

Label

“Around 2006 I listened to an NPR program about a collection of letters and poems by veterans and family members reflecting on their war experiences - the everyday type rather than the heroic ones we often read about. These were compiled and published in a book called Operation Homecoming. One such piece, read during the program, was “Clusters,” a poem written by Maj. Robert Schaefer (now Lt. Colonel) who served in Iraq. The poem struck me hard with the vivid imagery it evoked. I was able to find the piece online, printed it off and stuck it on my studio bulletin board. A few years later, I was creating a series of watercolor patterns to use for collage purposes. The bubblegum pink of one of the sheets kept resonating with me, reminding me of something. That something was ‘...a bubble gum pop, then cotton candy chunks...,’ a line in the “Clusters” poem. That color along with the shard shape patterns of grays that had also emerged, came together with the compelling imagery of the poem to form ‘Just Like That.’” - Lynn Foskett

Label Type

Didactic

Label

Lynn Foskett (b. 1949) Just Like That, 2010 watercolor frottage on YUPO, collage 40 x 28 in. Gift of the artist, 2019.8 Using watercolor frottage and collage, Lynn Foskett creates sharp, shard-like patterns violently layered over a background of bubblegum pink. While creating this piece, the bubblegum pink jolted her memory of a line in a poem she had heard four years prior. The poem, centered on a soldier’s experience surrounding shame and trauma in the Gulf War, guided this work for Foskett. Titled “Clusters” by Robert Schaefer, one excerpt reads: “[A] bubble gum pop, then cotton candy chunks / arcing lazily through the air / landing with little wet thumps / muffled by the sand. / Then, he died / just like that / just that quickly. / One moment he was alive and curious / and the next, he was just a scattering.” This work of art is a part of the HCC Permanent Art Collection. The HCC Art Galleries, through their Campus Loan Outreach Program, seek to share original art by collecting a diversity of works for the education and enjoyment of the HCC Community.