In his recent work he has veered more toward the conceptual than the literal. He finds inspiration in Japanese woodblock prints, which “celebrate the simplicity of line, form, and sense of movement and air,” and Ansel Adams’s This Is the American Earth, which he discovered one day in the stacks of the Strand Bookstore in New York City. “His photographs of trees and plants feel like portraits to me,” he says. “Similarly, I aspire to make work that feels like a moment-in-time.”
To achieve this, Murphy starts by sketching forms and shapes on his iPad. He doesn’t look at specific plant references to copy. Instead, “I let go, and see what shapes and forms naturally came together,” he says. Then, he cuts out the shapes from high quality acid-free, archival paper.
To assemble, he solders and finishes the brass parts, and sandwiches the leaf shapes together using book-binding glue onto the brass armature. “I wanted the connections on the pieces to be extremely clean, so that they look effortlessly connected together.” He waits at least a full day for the glue to dry before mixing the pigment and painting each paper piece with multiple coats of it.
Since he started gardening at his house in upstate New York, Murphy says he’s learned to ease up on his quest for perfection. “Gardening has taught me to let go a bit. I’ve learned to appreciate the surprises and accidents that come with it,” he says. “When I sculpt these pieces and I feel I’ve made an error, I stop myself and take a moment. Some of those accidents have led to great discoveries.”
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