“Bottles”
(Acrylic on Masonite board) Size:
61x46cm
ABOUT THIS PAINTING:
This painting won Third Prize at the Royal National Agricultural Show
(RNA Show), Brisbane, Australia. It is essentially an exercise in colour and
space. The subject is a still life of
two bottles and the purpose of the exercise is the point of focus in space
where the two diverge into separate objects.
There is no personal or emotional context and therefore no narrative to
this painting. This leaves the viewer no
option but to focus on the abstraction of the exercise – it is intended to
represent purely a two dimensional plane with no attempt at perspective. The painting is framed in smoke coloured
perspex which adds to its contemporary appeal.
Artistic techniques used in the painting:
I have used one
primary colour (Red) and its split compliment (two Greens), plus black. The white is the undercoat of the support
(Masonite board).
I have
deliberately abstracted the subject and reduced it to its visual bare minimum. The lack of visual information is designed to
draw the viewer’s eye to the point where the two bottles meet in space. This is where the “drama” is.
The lighter
coloured Green gives a sense of being in the foreground. This is the only suggestion that there is
depth in the composition.
The acrylic paint
dries flat and can look very uninteresting when dry (this is particularly true
of the early acrylics, which this painting is an example). Therefore to create visual interest, I have
textured the surface.
High tonal value
is when there is a lot of contrast between darks and lights. This painting exploits this so that the eye
is drawn to the point of focus where the two bottles meet.
The composition is
divided into three flat planes. This
division is deliberately off centre – which holds the viewer’s visual
interest. Although asymmetrical, the
painting feels balanced. This is caused
by the darker space being bigger than the other two – its as if the bigger volume
equals to the other two areas combined.
So you the viewer
may ask, why do I do such a simplistic paintings? My answer is that this is the way that I
portray life – by reducing the material to its essence I discard that which is
not necessary. Every day is a process
and the best that one can do is to be there in the moment. Art (for me) is like praying – it expresses
the conflicts within, and by the act of painting, these conflicts become
dissolved. Abstract art offers no
boundaries for my imagination, and beautiful “accidents” can occur. It also helps me to figure out new ways to
solve problems, both in the painting I am working on, and in life. This leads to serenity and peacefulness.
A wise person said
“The garbage is always rich enough to grow some beautiful flowers”. (unknown author).
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