Mediums -
Fine Plaster Casted Hands, Expanding Foam, Ink, Acrylic & Spray Paint
Why is the piece titled 'Seize Colour.' -
During my interview with John Bramblitt, I had asked him to create a metaphor in response to his feelings in the beginning of his sight loss to now. He had responded describing his sight loss as being at the bottom of a well, shrouded by darkness and despair... the opening of the well is but a small pin prick, a mild beacon of light to the darkness. Bramblitt had said he feared losing his relationship with colour the most, he had a choice - wallow in self pity and allow himself to be consumed by the well, or use his memory to inject some colour into his new world. He describes the well now was being a welcoming den, enveloped by colour and light. I wanted to document Johns relationship with colour via a visual narrative, creating a metaphysical response to his answer.
The hands grasp the canvas, posed in a manner of ferocity and determination, rather than covering within the abyss the hands protrude from the surface of the painting. The casts a bare, monochromatic tone, emerging from the platform of vivid colours and lucidity. I had chosen to keep the casts clear of any pigment, as to allow the detail of the craftsmanship to speak for itself; I wanted the hands as the subject to contrast between the paints and the canvas, signifying the gravity held within the message. Upon the construction of the piece, I had indulged in working all a-prima as to allow new colours to be mixed without deliberation. I had mentioned in my previous post about automatism and the importance of allowing my movements to be gestural, lucid and free. John had said to me in our interview the best thing you can do as an artist is accept failure, allow mistakes and avoid self critique. Working with my unconscious state allowed the painting to be genuine; eliminating control from the work (on a small scale) reiterates the nature of sight loss, uncontrolled.
I enjoyed the process of this particular work, adorning a canvas with paint in an action painterly fashion to then create impressionistic forms was a great deal of fun. Now working in a automatism manner, I have found the freedom to be somewhat liberating within my work. Control can of course be essential in life, but in art you can do all that you wish. By working in this manner I feel I have created a caricature of Bramblitt's metaphor, encapsulating the beauty of colour and the movements warranted from such a source.
In an exhibitory format, I would have this piece displayed singularly, I had contemplated mounting it with the other expanding foam pieces, put I feel if I were to implement this piece as part of a series rather than a work of its own, the image may be misconstrued and overlooked as just another piece. Though mundane, I do enjoy traditional mounting of paintings, I feel a plain white wall with this image located in the middle would be a great means of presentation.
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