Frank Bramblett, Endurance

Endurance is divided into two sections. On the right is an impression of Bramblett’s fingerprint. On the left, in thinner black lines, are the wrinkles of his grandmother’s face as recorded in a photograph. Uniting the two sides of the painting are crisscrossing lines of pink clay that mimic folds of skin and the unique lines of Bramblett’s palms. 

Years after beginning this work, Bramblett placed a glass ship—given to him while on a visit to Mexico—on the surface. The linear elements seem topographical, just as wrinkles and fingerprints are a record of the human passage through life.