ArtistsNetwork.com 37wouldn’tbeabletopredictwhen
therockswould“breathe,”mak-
ingit a spontaneousexperience.
McCormackwouldwatchasview-
ersinthegallerybegantomove
awayfromhisexhibition,before
exclaimingthattherockmoved,andrunningbacktolook.
“Ilearnedsomethingsthatday,”hesays.“Oneisthat
peripheralvisionishypersensitivetomotion,soif I canget
anysenseofthatinmypaintings—whichismuchharder
todothanusingsomethingthatactuallymoves—ifI can
getanybodytoreacttomypaintingsinthatway—likethe
wonderofdiscoveringsomethingreallygreat—that’sthe
paintingthat’shighlysuccessful.”
WhileMcCormack’sdegreeinsculpturemaystillinform
hispaintingchoices,hisoriginalpursuitofsculptureand
artmayhaveoriginatedinhisart-positiveupbringing.
AfterWWII,hisfatherworkedasa mechanicalengineer
forLawrenceRadiationLaboratory(nowLawrence
BerkeleyNationalLaboratory)buildingdevicesfornuclear
physicists.“Hehadaccesstoa lotofexoticmaterialsanda
lotofdowntime,”saystheartist.“Heusedtomakelittle
LEFT
Learning to Walk in My
Own Shadow 13
(watercolor and acrylic
on paper, 24x18)
RIGHT
Neptune’s Purse No. 2
(acrylic on paper, 24x18)
pieces of sculpture out of titanium and bronze and what-
ever metals were available, and they were small because
they had to fi t in his lunch box to take them outside the
facility.” McCormack’s mother had architectural training,
and the artist remembers seeing prints in their home of
works by Matisse and Picasso. When his brother decided
to go to art school, McCormack says it was “accepted”
right away.
Initially, McCormack took a diff erent path, enrolling in
the Navy. “I thought I’d better go grow up somewhere,” he
says. Still, the separation from art was only temporary, as
he soon found himself pinstriping cars and painting logos
on hot rods. Th is kind of work would eventually predict
the opening of his own business in graphic design and
illustration, after years of teaching in the college commu-
nity. “Th e whole time I was doing illustration, I did a lot
of painting for myself and work on sculpture,” he says.
“I always worked on that side, and some of those ideas
created a visual vocabulary that I’m still using today. Drop
shadows and string lines, form and composition, all of
that was really honed in sculpture and in illustration and
graphic design.”