UNDERSTANDING ABSTRACT ART #73

“A Mortal Flower” 

(Oil, Pastel & Fibreglass Resin)

Size:  100x77cm

THE IDEA  and TECHNIQUES BEHIND THE PAINTING:

This painting “A Mortal Flower” typifies a style I experimented with but due to health concerns I decided not to continue this approach.  The painting is oil on a plywood board.  The oil paint was applied and then turpentine was sprinkled onto it causing it to run and separate.  I then drew the face using pastels.  There was no likeness to anyone in particular.  I applied fibreglass resin over the whole painting.  However due to the combustible nature of the resin and also the fumes, I decided to discontinue this style even though it was popular.  Also after doing one or two paintings using this technique, I became bored with the process.  This painting has no real meaning.  Also there is not much technique involved and the faces become repetitive.  I prefer to paint something that offers a challenge or says something of meaning, regardless of whether it is popular or not.  I only painted two of this type – the other being “Soft Glances” which is reviewed in Post #55.

I wonder just how you feel about this painting?

I urge painters to experiment with as many different types of media as possible and by so doing, one learns how to achieve specific affects when they are required.  A painter learns only by experience and not by reading about it.  Painting is a very hands on discipline.

So, what is art?  In my opinion true art should say something just like literature.  However, many of the general public tend to look at art from a purely decorative point of view.  If it looks pretty or is a nice scene then its “good” art.  I suppose all are true - it really depends on the viewer.  Just like a conversation, there is the speaker and the listener.  What the speaker is trying to say has to be interpreted by the listener – the listener has to be receptive for the information to be heard.  With art this also applies but so often the viewer does not reflect or the time to contemplation.  They just look, make a quick judgement and move on.  This says something about the modern human – are we becoming self absorbed and insensitive perhaps?  Are our eyes closed to subtleties?   Don’t we have the time?  Every action or re-action says something.  It’s all art – the art of living.  It’s about being conscious in the Now.

http://www.buderimartstudio.com 

UNDERSTANDING ABSTRACT ART #66

“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.

 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?

http://www.buderimartstudio.com

UNDERSTANDING ABSTRACT ART #56 (Christmas)

“The Black Madonna” – #1 and #2 -Two Sculptures

#1  Cement – plaster cast from clay

#2  Clay, Das and Paint  

35cm high approx.  (both) 

The Story of the two Madonnas: 

Like all good stories it starts with “Once upon a time...” and being Christmas time, it is about the Madonna.

This was a time just before I went to study art therapy at the University of Louisville, Kentucky, USA.  Although I had a strong academic understanding in psychology and art I was required to complete a small sculpture course to fulfil the art requirements.  This is where “The Black Madonn #1” was born.  She was fashioned in clay and then covered in plaster of paris and finally cast in cement.

Before I left Australia, I took photos of her and in the first year of being in Louisville, I started another “Madonna” in clay, however because of the way she was built it was not possible to fire her in a kiln because I did not have the equipment or the space to do so.

Upon my return to Australia a few years later, I discovered that my “Madonna #2” had not travelled very well.  The sculpture was smashed in over 70 pieces.  I reconstructed her using Das which is a self drying synthetic clay which served to stick the whole head together.   I then painted her with black matt acrylic to cover the obvious damage.  She thus became “The Black Madonna”.  Her fragile state remains today as she is impossible to fire. 

Both Madonnas are similar but have character differences.

Artistic techniques used in these sculptures:

I am not a sculptor so I can’t talk about techniques in depth.  Nevertheless I am artistic and I really enjoy doing these two pieces for my own self expression.

Thus ends the Christmas story of the two Madonnas. 

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful 2013 and thank you for your support over the last year.

http://www.buderimartstudio.com 

UNDERSTANDING ABSTRACT ART #53

Title:   “Scene of Action” 

(Inks and Enamel on Masonite)

46x61cm

THE IDEA BEHIND THE PAINTING

This painting is the prototype for a much larger painting which won Highly Commended in the Warrana Festival Art Prize.  It was a mixed media and called “Space Encompassed” (90x120cm).  It also is in the Caltex Collection.

Artistic techniques used in the painting:

With all my art making, it’s a matter of enquiry, problem solving and resolution.  This could concern issues of a personal, political or global nature.  Or it could be of a technical artistic problem.  People who have been following my blog will know that I do not just paint a picture... there is always something deeper going on.

 The smaller painting shown here titled “Scene of Action” represents experimental art.  I began by pouring inks onto a sealed masonite board.  At the time I was experimenting with inks and air-brushing.  I had a small air brushing kit that used pressure packs to spray fluids.  I poured the green inks and then the reds were applied with the air-brush.  It was a very spontaneous way of producing a painting.  I then reproduced this painting onto a 90x120cm board.  This used all my skills and painting experience because I was reproducing something that was initially born from chance.  However I did accomplish this and it was highly commended by the judges at Warrana Festival.

I re-named the bigger painting “Space Encompassed” because the focus point is the red space in the lower centre (slightly to the right).  The viewer’s eye is drawn into this area of the painting as if into “a still space beyond all the action”.  The name of the prototype being “Scene of Action”. 

I used enamel on the larger painting along with inks, whereas on the prototype I used the air-brushed inks.

Although the prototype was produced randomly, the larger painting had to be scaled up and the spontaneous dribbles and pouring had to be reproduced.  It is not easy to do this and keep the spontaneous look.

I really urge painters to experiment with new materials.  It is only through trying out different mediums that you start to get experienced in just what they can do.  Then when you want to achieve a certain effect, you will be able to select the best medium to achieve that effect.  This is what painting is about – along with the traditional techniques of colour, composition, texture, design, emphasis and meaning, the knowledge of different and new materials is essential.

http://www.buderimartstudio.com