Reed has only recently joined NIAD, but brings with him a clarity of vision that is exciting to observe. Using the Microsoft Word “highlight” function to assign colors to excerpted pop culture references – “Mrs. Honker”, “Fur Ball 6”, “Kermit” – Reed then translates these color-enhanced meanings onto a drawing surface. The color assignment is absolutely intentional and remains true from electronic document to analog page.

On occasion, Reed’s choice of text slips away from pop culture and into what reads or feels like narrative: “Question mark, Question, Hint, Answer”. As with all translation, meaning can be altered, shifted, or obscured.

In Reed’s process, the color used as a highlight to the text in the Word document becomes the color for both text and highlight on the drawing surface. Choosing to highlight some, but not all, text makes for a map of apparent and hidden meanings, offerings and retractions.

As the page fills, the viewer is left to swim between a carefully considered color field abstraction and the contraction and expansion of meaning in the semi-obscured text.

Reed’s art process will deepen as he continues his studio journey, and we are honored to witness and facilitate his development as an artist.