UNDERSTANDING ABSTRACT ART #82

Title:   “Cancer on Society” 

(Mixed Media)

120x61cm

THE IDEA BEHIND THE PAINTING and Artistic techniques used in the painting:

Cancer has become increasingly prevalent in our society in recent times.  We all have been touched in some way, either directly or indirectly by this epidemic.  My experience with cancer has been through palliative care. I am by profession an Expressive Art Therapist which allows me to use art as a counselling tool. 

A cancer develops in an organism when cells mutate and begin attacking healthy cells.  This painting shows corruption of matter. Corrupting the natural order - cannibalizing - similar to the way that cancer cells attack healthy cells in the body. 

Humanity is presently at a liminal point in time - an in between moment when things are changing rapidly in a way never before imagined.  The outcome may be positive or negative and will to become evident with time.  Both humanity and nature will be the driving forces in determining the outcome.

While seeking an emotional map for all this, humanity has to consider environmental questions raised by the exploitation of nature for monetary gains, such as fracking, mining and logging, all of which have resulted in obscene levels of degradation to the natural environment.  Humanity cannot live without the Earth - in a sense the earth is humanity’s body. 

The future also looks bleak on the biological front .  A recent book called “Frankenstein’s Cat” by Emily Anthes, discusses how biotechnology is shaping our future.  Scientists are storing DNA from the planet’s most exotic creatures.  On the positive side, they are cloning to protect endangered species, craft prosthetics to save injured animals, and employ genetic engineering to stock farms with disease-resistant livestock.   However on the negative side, other experiments have produced sensor-wearing seals, cyborg beetles, a bionic bulldog, a cloned cat and GloFish which glow in the dark.  She interviews scientists, conservationists, ethicists, and entrepreneurs and raises moral and ethical questions such as “What does biotechnology really mean for this world?”

Are these scientific experiments not similar to what cancer does – mutations replacing healthy organisms?”  Has humanity gone past the tipping point?  This is the dilemma raised in my painting “Cancer on Society”.

This painting is in the style of Abstract Expressionism.   This artistic style expresses individual autonomy and freedom in a manner that can be characterised as chaotic and anarchic.  Freedom in life is translated into artistic liberty with an emphasis on gestural spontaneity.

Painting “Cancer on Society” was like making an emotional map.  It did not solve the problems but it did externalize them and by so doing, the problems were then easier to comprehend.

The title of this painting is important to its understanding.  The form is two dimensional and flat.  The tone is neutral and monochromatic.  The colours are randomly mixed and covered with silver enamel spray. 

It is an experimental painting.  The final result which came about by accident is really very aesthetically pleasing.  It is hoped that the outcome for humanity is as pleasing and successful.  At this stage I think that we are looking into Pandora’s Box.  Will the benefits outweigh the risks?  I would invite your comments.

http://www.buderimartstudio.com 

UNDERSTANDING ABSTRACT ART #81

“The Fractured Earth” #7

Rockscape Series

Watercolour, Ink and Silver Ink on handmade paper

83x98cm  (framed)

ABOUT THIS PAINTING and the artistic techniques used in this painting:

I believe the process of painting is a bit like the process of living.  We do not have a say in who our parents are.  Nor do we have any say in the country into which we are born.  The era in which we live also is out of our control.  We do however have control over the way we respond to the circumstances of our life.  Therefore when I paint I often do not take too much effort in controlling the subject matter.  So when I took the photos that became the basis for my rockscape series, I aimed the camera at interesting rock formations, with little thought to the composition of the picture.  This is the photo I used for this painting.

When I selected the ten photos from the 60 or more photographs I took, again I was looking for unusual rock formations.  I believe that if one is given a subject that stimulates, then one should be able to accomplish a well balanced and pleasing painting.  It is the process of painting (like the process of living) that interests me as much as the finished product.  I believe that given my painting experience I should be able to create a beautiful picture using whatever means as are available to me.  A bit like creating order out of chaos.

I have discussed the concept behind this Rockscape Series in Posts Nos. 9, 67, 69, 72 and 78, so dear reader, go to these if you are interested.  However in the past I have not discussed the process involved in any particular one of this series.  I will do this here.

The photo image was faithfully reproduced in watercolour paints and inks.  When I had completed this I felt that the composition was not balanced.  I therefore used a device (seen as a ghost net) to balance the painting.  A ghost net is a discarded fishing net which is a major polluter of our oceans.  It floats in the tides and drowns all marine life that gets caught in it.  Some of these nets are miles long. So in this painting I used the net as a visual device to balance my composition.  It also fitted well with the concept behind the series which is concerned with the degradation of the natural environment – particularly the oceans and their coastal regions.

Nets are very difficult to draw because our eye tends to know if the net is not correct.  I obtained some old netting from of the fisheries at Mooloolaba.   I had a few attempts before I was satisfied with the end result.  This was then inked in with a bamboo pen.  The sea shells also were drawn with inks. The fish image is a collage made from silver ink on transparent plastic and fixed within the ghost net.  The dead fish is to remind the viewer of the destructive nature of these discarded nets and their toll on marine life.

I always find it a challenge to create a pleasing picture from something which poses a technical problem.  It is the sense of accomplishment that is at the base of creativity.  What do you think?   I would welcome your comments.

http://www.buderimartstudio.com 

UNDERSTANDING ABSTRACT ART #80

“Bridie - Portrait”

(Watercolour) 

Size: 30x22 cm

THE IDEA BEHIND THE PAINTING:

This is one of the portraits that I did of my family.  Watercolour paint is the medium decided for my granddaughter Bridie because I felt that it best suited her personality.   I painted it from this photograph (below) in a very representational way.  I did this because although many of my paintings are abstract, with family portraiture I am capturing a record of a person in time.

Art Techniques used to achieve this:

I drew the painting first having gridded up the photo. The drawing is seen below:-

Because the photo was taken outdoors, I used what is known as a “Cool Light Sequence”  -  this keeps the background cool and the face and figure warm.  (I have discussed the difference between warm and cool colours before).

The palette used for this painting is as follows:-

Watercolour Palette:

Aureo. Yellow

Rose Madder

French Ultra Blue

Cad. Red

Windsor Blue (or Phthalo Blue)

Indian Red

Aliz. Crimson

Veridian

Cobalt Blue

Light Red

Windsor Green (or Phthalo G.)

I did the background first.  I used 300g watercolour paper.  I saturated the paper with water to paint the background – leaving the paper under the face and hair dry.  I then applied the glazes and allowed the paper to dry between each glaze.  That way I was able to increase the intensity of the colour where needed – ie close to the face.

Painting using watercolour paints requires more experience than acrylics.  It is a very exacting medium.                           

I have written about using watercolour paint for portraits in posts #10 and 64.  I also discussed portrait painting in post #54 where I reviewed other family portraits.  Feel free to back track on this blog to read the referenced posts.

http://www.buderimartstudio.com 

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