Wall Sculptures: Overview

Fin-de-Sicle, 2019

Blind Insights

Blind Insights reveals Hopkins' fascination with the "visceral" nature of emotional experiences and how they are processed through our bodies' system of "feedback-loops". The layering process of collage, along with the elements of gouache washes and wooden skewers, provides Hopkins with an evocative combination of materials for exploring the mysterious process of contemplation — the ultimate source of self-identity and meaning.

See Blind Insights Gallery.

Treble, 2002

Circadian Loops

Circadian Loops is a series of wall sculptures characterized by twisting loops of wood, and are inspired by notions of "circadian rhythms" -- biological clocks that operate in roughly 24 hour cycles as "adaptations to life on a rotating world". As the series evolved, Hopkins began to incorporate colored fabric and plastic, which, in turn, suggested figurative forms in gymnast-like movement. Hopkins prefers to dramatize their interactive energy by installing them in scattered clusters on the wall -- creating, what he terms, "a parallel universe of circadian rhythms".

See Circadian Loops Gallery

Elapidine Twist, 1997

Heterosis Series

Heterosis Series evolves from the curvilinear forms of Hopkins' Rust-Stained Series, and, additionally, pursues a more "open approach" by exposing the skeletal armature and wood-ribbed-joinery of these wall-mounted sculptures. The word "heterosis" refers to the "increased vigor or other superior qualities arising from the crossbreeding of genetically different plants or animals." Hopkins literally employs this theme of "crossbreeding" by incorporating different fabric-coverings alongside those of rust-stained canvas. As a result, these sculptural forms have a more quirky and animated energy than seen in Hopkins' previous work.

See Heterosis Series Gallery

Purdah, 1996

Rust-Stained Series

Rust-Stained Series represents Hopkins' exclusive use of oxidation as a means for staining canvas, having evolved from his earlier experiments with various process approaches in the Process-Work Series. For Hopkins the process of wrapping and unwrapping rusted metal with wet canvas imbues the work with a "shroud-like pathos" by evoking the absence of someone or something through "the presence of their transferred stains". The use of curvilinear armatures, comprised of wooden ribs, helps to give the work an "otherworldly" sculptural presence that is both alluring and mysterious.

See Rust-Stained Series Gallery

Embrace, 1993

Process-Work Series

Process-Work Series reflects Hopkins' first experiments with "process" approaches to making art. Primarily beginning with washed, raw canvas, Hopkins explored alternative methods to "pigmenting" — or staining canvas, the traditional "ground" for oil painting. His initial explorations involved wrapping and unwrapping wet canvas around different perishable foods, such as fruits and vegetables, as a means for producing stains from their decomposition. In turn, these were mounted on different kinds of supports — eventually evolving into a curvilinear form, as later developed in the Rust-Stained Series.

See Process-Work Series Gallery.

Collar Form, 1992

Doorskin Sculptures & Installations

Doorskin Sculptures, which also includes wall sculptures, continues the reductive approach that Hopkins first began with Secular Templates, a series completed prior to his moving to downtown Los Angeles. A working metaphor Hopkins used during this series was that of "stripping-down a couch" — a minimalist conceit for exposing the underlying, skeletal structure of form. In following this approach, Hopkins worked exclusively with a "doorskin-and-wood-frame" construction. The use of interior openings — which literally invite viewers to step inside, add an element of whimsical and playful interaction. Likewise, with his Installations projects, Hopkins pursued a similar approach in a number of installations he made during this time.

See Doorskin Sculptures & Installations Gallery.

Secular Apsis, 1990

Wall Constructions

Wall Constructions straddle the formal boundaries between painting and sculpture. Comprised of two series, Shifting Fragments and Secular Templates, they seem to foreshadow issues that would characterize Hopkins’s later work. In hindsight, one may even perceive Hopkins’s ideas as "coming full-circle" when comparing his most recent work, Blind Insights to his earlier Shifting Fragments. Where does "visceral language" end, and "figurative language" begin? Such is the focus of Hopkins’s work — both "reveling" and "revealing" in our ever-shifting perceptions of reality.

See Wall Constructions Overview.