Now consider Exercises 1-3 in relation to your own developing practice. Think about what redaction is and does and how you might employ (and indeed have employed) processes of removal to serve your intentions and to communicate ideas.
It is important, at this juncture, to look very closely at the redactions you have engaged in up to this point in time, and look also at painterly redactions from different periods of history. How has redaction contributed to the meaning of painted works? Overpaint, scrape back, sand, obscure, and remove as you go. Be playful and brave with your redactions.
Using inspiration from Exercise 2, Less is More. I used an existing painting (one in which my tutor had expressed a corner of being intriguing more than the entire piece). The bottom right-hand corner here is where I am aiming to redact or highlight.
I used to be scissors.
Mixed media on a 50 x 40 cm copper support.
With my 'newfound tools' of redaction and erasure, I reflected on how to use this feedback and artistic influences.
Recently I looked at the photographs of the paintings I saw in Bilbao's Guggenheim, and reflecting on Rauschenberg, Kiefer, de Kooning and Twombly, I noticed the scraping and sgraffito in the works of Tapies and others.
Process.
I am overpainting with opaque layers of acrylic paint and glazes.
Sanding and erasing paint with manual and eclectic sanders/paper.
Sgraffito mark-making techniques with the end of a paintbrush.
Painting glazes over the entire opaque area and then using the influence of scratching off with sgraffito caused the paint layers underneath to show through.
The piece's finish was so 'matt' that it needed some interest and gloss.
I used an aerosol gloss and dripped the paint I sprayed in one area over the surface of the metallic painted piece.
Cut the corner.
Mixed media on a 50 x 40 cm copper support.
This layered, concealed underpainting has had an influence on the title (which also describes the actions performed).
This is a palimpsestic work and includes areas of a process of construction and destruction, resulting in a surface rich in texture and meaning.
Scrapping back and surface tension are explored by adding and removing layers of paint or glaze in this painting.
Techniques used include dry brush, wet in wet, and veils of glazing with broad strokes to conceal and reveal.
Using this cutting and sgraffito mark-making shows the temporality of the piece, and the title echoes this 'cutting through'.
Influenced by the paintings and artists' mark-making seen first-hand in Bilbao.
The copper base surface is brought forward from beneath, erased to capture the rich warmth of the underbelly of the work, the strength below that all the layers are adhered to.
Subtle details are highlighted by the mixture and variation of the textures, glazes and techniques used to erase and redact the surface. These create tension and intrigue.
The sgraffito mark making has energy and movement to catch the eye of the viewer and make them stop and take in the space the 2D space made to cut deep into their memory.
What works well?
The metal surface is a twist on the norm. I like that. Its support is heavy and accommodates the media well.
The redaction and surface tension (difficult to show in the photograph).
The layers peep through and complement the overalls of the piece.
The surface is very textured, some delicate, some veiled, some glazed, and all harmonize to create the passage of time passing.
What hasn't worked well?
The length of time it takes to create a work like this. Over 3 days.
The curation and thought will be needed to frame this work.
The metal is heavy and thin and will be difficult to frame without reflection on the framing or position of the exhibited piece.
Comments