“Thoughts Moving in Consciousness #3”
Satsang Series
(Acrylic and Ink on handmade
paper)
Size:
70x104cm (unframed)
THE IDEA BEHIND THE PAINTING:
“By
drawing a diagram, a ground plan of a house, a street plan to the location of a
site, or a topographic map, one draws a ‘logical two dimensional picture. A ‘logical picture’ differs from a natural or
realistic picture in that it rarely looks like the thing it stands for.” This statement was from Robert Smithson’s
“The Collected Writings”.
(“Smithson is most well known American
artist/sculptor noted for his provocative earthwork, the “Spiral Jetty” made in 1970. He
gained international recognition for his groundbreaking art which was not
limited by genre or materials as well as for his critical writings that
challenged traditional categories of art between the years of 1964-1973. His
art and writings have had a profound impact on sculpture and art theory for
over thirty years.”) See website http://www.robertsmithson.com/introduction/introduction.htm
for more on Smithson where I sourced the above bracketed paragraph.
Although Smithson’s approach to art
making is entirely different to mine, the above statement by him, could be
applied to my abstract art and gives people another way of looking at abstract
art. Generally people never question
what a map represents though when they are faced with abstract art they often search
for some identifiable image within the picture.
In my blog Understanding Abstract Art, I aim to educate the general
public in how to “see” this particular art form and to appreciate it for what
it is. In my painting “Thoughts Moving in Consciousness
#3” shown above, I could have easily made the shapes within this painting to
represent the human form. However I resisted
from doing this because the overall meaning of this painting (and series) was
an attempt to express what was happening for me in meditation. The fact that viewers can “see” people in
this picture is of no concern to me the painter, nor was it intended to
represent anything to do with the human figure.
I am painting an abstract concept and trying to express it in a way that
is visual. The title gives the viewer a
clue to what it is about.
Art Techniques used to achieve this:
The invisible
fire of meditation is represented by the orange/red. Its complimentary opposite is blue. These blue marks represent my thoughts as
they come into my consciousness during meditation. Ink is a particularly vibrant medium and has
a transparent quality, whereas acrylic is generally opaque. Contrast in media creates interest for the
viewer.
The
composition has a vertical emphasis but there is also a diagonal emphasis in
the four dots running from upper right to lower left. These opposing thrusts create an equivocal
(subliminal) message because verticals and horizontals tend to suggest a sense
of order and balance, whereas diagonals suggest tension and drama. Meditation is a state of being where the mind
is balanced and empty. When thoughts enter
consciousness, they interfere with this state.
A good way of
ensuring a painting is balanced is to turn it upside down. This change in visual perception makes any
incongruity obvious.
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Another way to discern whether a painting is
balanced is to view it in a mirror. In
my opinion if a painting satisfies the basis parameters of balance and colour
harmony, then it is not necessary for it to represent an identifiable image. If I had developed the marks in this painting
so that they represented people, the painting would still be balanced and the
colours harmonious, but the meaning would be changed. However I am trying to convey the abstract
concept of meditation, and in this respect I feel that I have achieved this. Just like a map, abstract art conveys a
concept or idea in a different way to that of words. It is a visual communication of an abstract
concept.
What do you,
the viewer, think?
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