Rose Window no. 3
Silk Screen and Collagraph

Keith Garubba

Radial designs have been important to many cultures.  In the west, the Rose Window is a familiar symbol of power, hope, faith, and a reminder that God is always watching over us.  In the east, the Japanese mon, or family crest, is an equally elegant, often times radial, design that distinguishes one’s affiliations and loyalties.  These are the meanings that artist Keith Garubba's radial designs bear as well:  spirituality and family.

Garubba began creating rose window designs after the death of his uncle, which sparked many questions within him that he explores visually. In Garubba's designs, he embeds symbols of various kinds, from modified biohazard warnings to tri-lobed arches. These designs seek to draw a parallel between architecture and human biology. Garubba takes his designs and composes them over large sheets of paper using various printmaking techniques. He is very interested in the formal qualities of an artwork; a harmonious composition is one of his fundamental goals.

When Garubba begins a composition, he starts with a grid, or some variation of the grid, which he draws in pencil.  These lines are drawn to remind one of the blueprints of a structure, or the grid in which a stained-glass window would be organized.  Garubba then works in layers of various techniques, in no set order, to fill his composition, hoping to break the grid set down in pencil.  Much as busting one’s daily cycle and encountering the unexpected is healthy for life, art is more visually compelling when order is broken; therefore Garubba seeks to break the grid that he initially laid down.  The main focus of Garubba's work is the rose window designs, which he applies through silkscreen. He supplements this with collagraph techniques to create expressive effects, which help reinforce the desired feeling or mood of a composition while creating unity.

String has become a very important tool in Garubba's work. He inks string, often with a saturated blue, and lays strands directly on the paper, controlling the general direction, but allowing the natural grace of the string to help dictate its placement.  This is then run through the press, creating a sensuous modulated line.

Garubba works on many pieces at once, building them all up together simultaneously.  This being his process, each piece has been informed by the others in this body of work. They have grown together, have gained meaning together, and will always be connected on a level beyond their juxtaposition on a wall.  Garubba's pieces are named after biological processes, and are meant to visually resemble such processes while acting as metaphors and allegories for spiritual happenings or states. For example, the blue string lines which appear in many of his pieces often times refer to vasculature and spiritual connectedness.

The architecture of structures such as cathedrals, created by man, and the architecture of the body, given to us by our Creator, are wonders to behold.  Both are symbols of unity. Overall, this unity, this connectedness, is what Garubba hopes to convey in his art. We’re all connected. We’re all related. Living or dead, near or far, we all share a bond.  We just can’t all see it yet.