The latest iteration of the Deposition Series {I, II, III}. Once again I am extracting the figure as silhouette and, this time, taking some liberties with the form. This grows out of two directions 1) Optical Art and 2) New Formalism.

By cutting the evenly spaced ‘slits’ in the extended form the shadow becomes active by pulling away from and returning to the form while it creates a rippled effect of movement. The other ‘op-art’ trick is painting the back a vibrant color, such as pink or orange, in order to cast a reflective glow onto the wall around the figure. A powerful way to embue spirit to an object, which I have used on several pieces.

The ‘new formalism’ I mention could be related to the return of meter and rhythm in poetry in the late 2oth century after the free-verse or confessionals of the 70’s and 80’s. It could also be related to the mid-20th century architectural turn towards humanism through usage of organic forms over the coldness of International style, as it’s return to supposed human values still harbored a very mathematical grace.

In visual art ‘new formalism’ could be considered the artists attempting to disrupt the tradition of “work on the wall” by propping paintings to lean against the wall, [links 1 and 2] or doing similar things with sticks and boards as a means to activate the space or humble the material. (I love this stuff, but it is simply not my style.) Taking on the challenge of activating difficult spaces, such as corners and the wall/floor relationship, allows me to reconsider the context of the original figure as a bridge between two planes.

30 May This entry was published on May 30, 2013 at 3:13 am. It’s filed under Art and tagged art, figure, formal, glow, installation, minimal, silhouette. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.