Angela Berkson, re: target cross 3, acrylic on canvas, 24x24

Since 1994, the target shape has come and gone in my paintings. It all started when a friend gave me some leftover paper targets she had used for shooting practice and I was captivated by the visual impact of the concentric circles. I started incorporating these commercial paper targets in my paintings, collage-style, applying layers of paint/wax over them to reveal and conceal different aspects of the concentric circles and integrating other shapes. After a while the target left my work for many years, but re-appeared again in 2010 when some petal shapes I had been painting morphed into concentric circles. The target was back. But these targets were different because I was drawing the circles, not a machine. These new targets inspired intersecting lines to break up and flatten the circles, and soon I had cross-shapes intersecting the targets.

The cross is another recurring shape in my work. I think about how artists have used images of concentric circles, crosses and other universal shapes throughout art history, and here I am repeating them. I consider the visual power of these universal symbols and how what I’m doing is like a cover of other artists’ images, including my own. I have developed many different recurring shapes in my work that have evolved over time, repeating and returning like my own visual language. I have painted targets and cross shapes before, but this target with a cross behind it is somehow different, re-made, re-played, re-covered.

Photo courtesy of Little Shot Photography