Studio Detritus
Over the last five years or so, I have been working from
photos that I take of ordinary scenes or things around me. I consider these to
be ready-made or found images that require little or no translation in the
painting process. I have gravitated [with hind sight] to simple images that
have immediate seductive appeal. The image and the paint become tools to seduce
the viewer. I then introduce a stenciled on text that evokes themes of
transience, uncertainty, chance, and evolution.
This enforces some kind of contemplation rather than just oooh that’s
nice. The words Utopia,
100%Safe and Luck evoke their opposites. They also reference good wish
cards and those kitsch wall hangings with sunsets and some kind of pearl of
wisdom.
As a result of this studio process a lot of photos and words
have landed up on the studio floor. Paint falls on them, they are crumpled and
stood on, and they end up in middens or in the trash. At some point in a
reaction to the endlessly neat and technical photographic painting I found
myself preferring the mess around my easel to the painting in progress. This
led to a reintegration of some of this detritus into my work [paintings,
photographs and animation].
The images below include finished works based on studio detritus, some are detritus that have been photographed and have been exhibited as photographic pieces, and others are just detritus.
The images below include finished works based on studio detritus, some are detritus that have been photographed and have been exhibited as photographic pieces, and others are just detritus.
Click on this link to see my animation, What Else Is There? What Else Is There? which makes use of my studio mess. www.youtube.com/watch?v=sd6Dsh_V8So
