Kingdom Divided

The Kingdom Is Divided Inch by Bloody Inch

Three separate surfaces are used to compose this intricate abstraction. A Plexiglass square used on both its front and back sides leaves enough open areas for a backing board to create behind them a deep atmospheric space. In most instances abstractions deliberately avoid creating spatial depth, here deep space is celebrated as the natural necessary component it is.

Our front surface has the painted bright yellow triangle—lower left quadrant, while two smaller triangles, with the darker values of yellow, use the upper right quadrant. The dominant blue and red triangles, and the yellow and black half-circles, just above centre, are painted on the inner side, while a backing board spray-painted in muted greys, blues, and pale corals also carries the pasted down orange triangle and orange half-circle visible through the translucencies of the Queen and King triangles. 

Qualities of paint and pigments range from absolutely opaque to the most delicate translucencies both in sprays and fluids. Plexiglass brings an incredible luminosity/numinosity to colour not available when painted on canvas or board. Geometric edges ride/soar/float against/over/under free-reign, free-flow forms. And the other complex dialogue about abstract spatial perceptions, and its advancing, recessional colours/tones, and between positive/negative forms is royally maxed out. 

While these dynamic elements were being brought into a worthy balance my mind couldn’t resist romanticizing them as a levitating Red Queen and her foot-loose Blue King parting company and beginning to divide their quantum world spoils.

Red Queen

Chop-Chop

Five components, all of different irregular sizes, have been cut with ruler and knife from several different pages of random ink and pen or brush markings. In each instance the markings suggest that they continue outside of its local edges.

The individual pieces are then collaged into a new image which in itself also implies an existence outside of its boundaries. A male torso prototype, or perhaps it’s an alligator lurching after prey, or, it becomes whatever the mind wishes to see though it has obviously gained much from the artlessness of abstractions.

Collage, and abstraction, are now of course both century old artistic techniques but obviously they can still energize one’s imagination, and provide a solid workout for compositional skills.

MaleT

Fillière  ©  20th 3  2018

 

Vertebral Vertigo

This extraordinary find, a vertebrae from a pot-roast, emerged pretty much as is from the carving up of that roast at a dinner table long years before I had decided to choose a vegetarian diet. The butcher’s part in the shaping of this one-armed Winged Victory Venus is evident in the exquisite chops he made in the trimming of the roast on its left side, its lower front facet, and provide a sitting base, all with accidental and absolutely impeccable placement.

My addition was to recognize the perfection of the shape and form of the piece, and to limit my intervention and claim to ownership to the addition of texture by scratching the bone and rubbing pigments into the scratches. It is a found art masterpiece that sits easily into the palm of one hand.

Vertebral Vertigo