Dwell & Brood

Notes taken directly from my reflection journal, uncut and unedited:

The way I composed the picture of the actual section and shadow of the sculpture for Dwell & Brood I knew would create a dynamic tension. The way the shadow seemed to reflect or look back at the sculpture was intriguing. There is a narrative to all of the pieces I’ve painted. When I took the pictures of my thesis show I was only looking at the compositions. I think painting them accentuates any story being told. The composition created fun problems which layering could resolve or highlight or both. The gray concrete floor of Duke gallery at APU I believed could become a visual rest area I haven’t yet included to date. There didn’t seem to be as obvious a need for glazed areas in the work, however, as I began layering the places became necessary. I, like with Applied Confidence, painted the shadows a bit too dark in the lower, triangular purple area calling too much attention. It was a distraction from the shadow looking back at the sculpture. I had already added a glaze of red in the lowest part and considering that one of my rules was to leave a part of each latex underpainting, I couldn’t just glaze over the entire area so I decided to mix an oil paint version of the latex color on top of each shadow line. This became a fun, painterly exercise which unified the triangular area thus moderating the attention it was garnering. One of the rules developing in each piece resulting from applying glazes while the piece is vertical were the runs of glaze. Like with the teal and magenta from Applied Confidence, I applied a glaze of coral hue and let it run down. This unified that area and brought it forward or on top of/above the surface more further emphasizing the communication between shadow and the actual piece. 

I hung Applied Confidence and Dwell &Brood in my living room with my TV between them. I’ve spent time with them noticing how their hues change with the different lighting, how some values are more intense and pronounced with reflected light and some with more direct lighting for instance. The coral colored shape at the top right of Influence advances in more direct lighting (indoor lights on at night) compared to it flattening with indirect lighting (from sunlight, no windows are very close making the light more defused). 

Dwell & Brood feels more open, free or like the space is more accessible or it’s a part of a larger conversation compared to Applied Confidence which feels closed in or like a small room, the conversation is less open or more focused/narrow?