UNDERSTANDING ABSTRACT ART #79

“Crazed – Cutting and Piercing” (Drawing)

Carbon, Ink, charcoal, watercolour pencil, Silver leaf on paper board

75x75cm  (unframed)

ABOUT THIS PAINTING:

 I had a friend whose daughter was self-harming.  This dysfunctional behaviour is much more wide spread than generally considered.  My drawing reflects on this dysfunctional behaviour.   Statistics show that it is mainly distressed young people (mostly women/girls) who self-harm.  My professional background is that of a qualified Art Psychotherapist so through my line of work I am familiar with this aberrant behaviour.  It is prevalent in Western countries and is considered to be a way of expressing emotional pain and externalizing it in a very damaging way.  The pain is said to release and relieve the tension that the person is experiencing. The person who self-harms will carry the scars of these actions for the rest of their life.  It is also very distressing for family members who are often bewildered and powerless to prevent this dysfunctional behaviour.  The young person may cover their wounds and scars with long sleeves and often will withdraw from socially healthy interactions.  The person who self-harms should seek professional help because there are many alternative healthy ways of gaining release from tensions and stress that are very effective.  A person who is self harming really needs to contact a mental health professional NOW.   Harming yourself is definitely NOT COOL!

 Artistic techniques used in this painting:

This painting is not framed.  It is never meant to framed.  The title is important too.

I selected a thick white paper (almost like a thin cardboard) and tore the edges to 75cm square.  I wanted a square to provide stability for such an unstable subject.  I started the work by masking out a border around the entire sheet so that the sheet had a contrast of a white border and then dark grey (which was pierced) and then a black band thus leaving a square interior for me to draw.  I knew in advance roughly what I wanted to draw.  This drawing is not spontaneous but it is experimental in that I used methods which I had not done before.

The dark grey border of the paper was pierced with a sharp instrument in order to achieve a patterned effect.  Some of the red acrylic paint which is on the reverse of the painting shows through the pierced holes in places. 

The centre of the drawing was planned in advance.  I have a beautiful piece of pottery, the glaze of which has a “crazed” look.  According to Wikipedia “Crazing is a  web pattern of cracks penetrating the glaze on pottery.”   I took photos of this pottery piece and enlarged the crazed patterns to a size that fitted the centre of my drawing.  I then printed it out so that I had six images of the crazed pattern.  I placed these six images on the centre of my drawing and cut (by tracing their lines with a razor) through the “crazed” lines into the surface of the paper board.  I then discarded the photocopies and outlined the cut pattern with black ink.  I used a watercolour pencil to achieve the red tinge on this patterning.

The silver leaf represents the sharps that are used by people when they cut themselves.  I stiffened silver leaf and tore it at random so that sharp shapes were formed.  These I adhered to the crazed image.

The back of the paper I painted with red acrylic and purposely stained the edges of the artwork so that the red edges are seen from the front of the drawing.  This represents the internal emotional pain which people who self-harm strive to release and the externalization of that pain.

Self-harming is a cry for help.  Seek a qualified art therapist or mental health professional if you are self-harming.  I do not practice any more but qualified art therapists can be sourced on the Australian and New Zealand Arts Therapy Association (ANZATA) http://www.anzata.org/  (Go to Professional Registry).  There are art therapy associations in other countries also.  They can be sourced on the internet. 

Self-harming is an illness not to be silently suffered.

http://www.buderimartstudio.com

UNDERSTANDING ABSTRACT ART #78

“The Fractured Earth #6”

The Rockscape Series

 (Mixed water media with collage on watercolour paper) 

Size:  83x98cm (framed)

THE IDEA BEHIND THE PAINTING:

This painting is one of ten paintings in the Rockscape Series. This series deals with environmental issues and in particular the degradation of the oceans and their shores.  I used water media for this series to emphasise the watery theme.  All in this series are based on photographs of the rock formations seen at Point Cartwright near where I live in Australia.   Other posts about this series are found in Post No.19, 67, 69, and 72.  They discuss the paintings in “The Fractured Earth – Rockscape Series” #2, #4, #5 and #1 respectively. 

This particular one in the series deals with the pollution caused by oil spillage which is a real danger to the state of Queensland which relies on tourism for a major part of its revenue.

The photograph below is of one of these intriguing rock formations.  You must admit that it looks more like a moonscape than a rock on a coastal headland.

ART TECHNIQUES USED IN THIS PAINTING:

This paint was initially painted in watercolour and as true to the photograph as possible.  The green images in the painting represent the indentations in the rock’s surface.  Originally the background colour of the rock was a mauve violet in watercolour, but later I changed it to a bright yellow orange in acrylic.  I took this artistic licence because the painting was looking drab and needed to be lifted.  The indentations remained untouched and still in watercolour.  To achieve this I applied contact adhesive plastic to the entire paper surface and then outlined the green images.  I then cut around them and peeled the surrounding plastic off thus leaving the green images protected by the contact plastic.  I was then able to use a roller to apply the yellow orange acrylic evenly over the entire surface without damaging the green images which represent the indentations in the surface of the rock formation.  You will note that the yellow varies from a yellow orange in the centre to a yellow green at the edges.

I used two photos of crabs (different sizes) and placed them into the composition.  I then randomly poured a blue violet acrylic around the entire image in an anti-clockwise direction.  This final spontaneous action represents the disruption that oil spills have on the natural ocean environment. 

I would place this painting in the category of a documentary-history genre.  I would be interested to hear your comments on this.

http://www.buderimartstudio.com 

UNDERSTANDING ABSTRACT ART #77

“Gifts” 

(Acrylic) 

Size: 90x120cm

ABOUT THIS PAINTING:

The painting “Gifts” was born from grief.  It was started on the day that my partner Stuart died.  This was a sudden death and unexpected.  Below are photos that show the progress of the painting as it evolved over time.  The first (Figure 1) expressed my decision to temporarily leave Australia and travel to India.  I had been wanting to do this for about a year, and this tragic turn of events, cemented this idea.  The arabesques represent the exoticness of Indian culture.  The strong colour also speaks of that culture.  

 Figure 1

My art therapy training has taught me that to externalize my feelings will enable me to understand and process those feelings.  It is not that the feelings go away, but rather, that a maturity evolves as a result of life’s adversaries that enable one to move on in life.  The idea of erasing painful feelings like grief, which are part of life, is naive.  Humans (and perhaps all living creatures) experience pain (either physical or emotional) for a reason.  Pain conveys a message to the organism that it is either doing the wrong thing and to stop doing it, like when you put hand over a flame.  Or as in the case of grief, that something has been irrevocably lost that was of support to the wellbeing of that person.  The feeling of grief is different to that of depression.  It is natural for a person to feel grief for the loss of a loved one.  It is thought that the grieving process generally spansw about a year but it can vary between people and cultures.  Our western culture does not encourage the expression of grief like other cultures.  If one does not recognize ones grief and does not express it, then the person may resort to the use (or abuse) of substances to relieve that pain.  This can underlie addictions where the person is seeking relief from an emotional pain that they do not fully understand.

It is generally thought that the bereaved person goes through stages in the grieving process - sadness and numbness, then anger, then acceptance and moving on.  Theories differ on the number of stages but generally the process is similar over all.

My experience as a qualified art therapist working in Loss and Grief has confirmed this.

Figure 2 and 3 show my art making process and how through elimination I finally arrive at the finished piece.

 Figure 2

Figure 3

Artistic techniques used in the painting:

The finishing of this painting brought with it a certain resolution to my loss.  During the time that I painted it, I contemplated the “gifts” that I received over the time of my relationship with Stuart.  I am not referring to presents that he gave me but intangible gifts one receives through interaction with another.  The “gifts” were painted in rich colours and look a little like gems in a sea of aqua.  There is no attempt to make the forms recognisable.  This is very much the style of my painting throughout my art career.  They are undefined shapes that represent personal experiences, feelings and interactions that I had with Stuart.  The title “Gifts” explains this.  Those who have been following my posts will have read the rationale behind my abstract approach to painting.  In this case it is sincerity with a naked soul.  I will leave it at that today.   

http://www.buderimartstudio.com 

UNDERSTANDING ABSTRACT ART #76

“Thoughts Moving in Consciousness #2”

Satsang Series

Acrylic and Ink on handmade paper

104x70cm  (unframed)

ABOUT THIS PAINTING:

 If there has been one single thing that I have learnt over my life it is that I am happiest when I am in the Now.  It has taken a long time to train myself to be thus.  This does not mean that I don’t remember the past, it is simply that I have no need to dwell on particular past events.  Also if I feel uneasy about something (cognitive dissidence) I can readily trace the source of this unease. This does not mean that my mind is in a bliss-like trance, but rather that my mind is not active until it has to respond to something.  It’s a little like a car which is idling until it is put into gear and the accelerator activated.  

It is quite natural for a human to have thoughts.  A meditative life is when one is consciously aware of those thoughts.  This state of being is what this painting is trying to portray to the viewer.

It was painted when I was visiting an ashram in India.  “Ashram” is an Indian word for a spiritual retreat centre.  There are many different types of ashrams in India and many are affiliated with different teachings and practices for personal and spiritual growth.  The particular ashram where I was staying was not tied to any particular religion and focused on meditation.   (Meditation is not a religion but is a discipline for focused awareness).  The arts (dance, music, painting etc) were encouraged.  There were a couple of art studios in the ashram and that is where I did this painting. 

Artistic techniques used in this painting:

 This painting falls into the category of genre painting.  A genre painting is a painting that is outside of portraiture, history painting or landscape.  It generally is a category for ordinary subjects.  The subject of this painting is the experience of meditation.

The style is abstract.  Many of my paintings could be called Abstract Expressionism and I would class this one in that category.  I find that this style readily lends itself to the abstract meaning behind the painting because the painting is more about the experience of meditation than the concept of meditation.

The title refers to the meditative process where thoughts move in and out of consciousness.  The ink marks splattered randomly at intervals onto the paper represent those thoughts that interrupt the constancy of a still mind – this is what meditation is all about.

The colour is predominantly red-orange which in this case represents high energy and passion (not sexual passion).  It is in a heightened awareness that one attains enlightenment.

The tone of the painting is low without very much contrast. 

This painting is one of the Satsang Series.  Two other paintings in this series are discussed in posts #33 and #66.  They were all painted at the ashram.

It is hoped that these paintings bring people to a better understanding of what meditation is about.

http://www.buderimartstudio.com