TOPOGRAPHY PART TWO: THE SURFACE OF A PAINTING

THE SURFACE

Some paintings are as much about the surface as the subject and one often echoes the other.

Texture, sheen, quality of feel, a seductive topography of disparate materials and imagery.Traditional viewing of paintings is full frontal, head height or such. The opportunity for viewing as the painter can , while in process, is not typically offered a viewer. Changing one's view can often lead to changing one's perspective of the observed reality that we are engaged in at that moment and in turn this new way of seeing can open up other moments of a new clarity.

"The Painting"  2012      42" x 42"

Mixed Media Collage and Paint on Canvas

Traditional viewing and wall presentation.

Note: the following pictures (from the painting above) are images of a happenstance in the painting process and were only observed  close to completion of the piece. There was no intention toward a specific description of land and water merely a fluid state of resolve in the process of painting and composition. That being said, the work is land based abstraction and this leads to the larger mystery of the interconnectedness of time, space and being.

The New Perspective: An Alternate Viewing Experience (below)

The surface seen flat and looking across the upper mid section from the left side to the right. The photo is a poor example of the surface relief, but one can appreciate the altered vantage point of such a view.

Listening to the Water (below)

This view (flat) is looking across the lower mid section right toward the upper left hand corner. The foreground is sumi ink on mulberry paper finished with a gloss acrylic varnish. A group of red strings transitions to a more varied paper on top of numerous other papers and thread. White over glazing and a dull varnish finish give a depth illusion. In the distance garnet shellac on cheesecloth and paper. 

Detail View

Detail View:  Looking from the bottom of the piece towards the top

Detail View: Looking from the top right hand corner of string and wax a sumi paper ridge breaks to a water like surface with a shellacked cheesecloth beach in the distance.

Views Along the Edges 

The often ignored side edges of a painting can become a landscape unto them self. This view is of the top right hand corner.

Detail View: Lower right side 

Detail View: The strong relief in this piece becomes apparent in this view looking across the center field towards the upper right corner prior to vertical red string install.

Mystery Below the Surface: This is a view of the upper section looking form left to right. The dark form beneath the layer of the light glazed paper is bulging at the skin like surface. As if a life form is residing below this sheer translucent shell.

All photos and text courtesy and copyright of Glenn Carter 2012