8. A Splatter For A Square

(13/12/22)

Today I found myself to be quite stuck on deciding what to work on. I felt quite frustrated with the way things were going with some pieces and I could feel the destructive urge grow within me. So I decided to throw some paint. I had been looking at a piece I had been working on that incorporates organised geometric squares. I felt that the painting needed something to shake it up and appear less boring and more energetic. So I lay the painting on the floor, dipped my hand in a can of black paint and threw the paint directly in the centre of the painting. This made for a great mix of natural and geometric forms, as well as excitement to the piece representing deconstruction, frustration and contrasting techniques. After the black paint I stood on a chair and from a height I dropped white paint in the middle of the black paint, which mixed and splashed through the black paint and created more depth to the painting. I have a strong feeling that this painting is now finished. This has been a painting that has gradually taken its shape over numerous weeks of organic development. This I believe has contributed to a considered construction and has made for a strong and compelling artwork. Through the process of creating this artwork I noticed a formula that can be explored further and built upon, this is the mix of hard edged geometric squares and splattered paint. These formulas are something that I have become aware that I am able to spot and explore until a new formula appears. 

 (Pictured Below)

I mentioned on a previous post that I had looked at De Stijl artists in the process of creating this piece in relation to the squares, but there is another artist I have looked at in relation to the splattered paint that I have taken a degree of inspiration from. This artist is Rashid Johnson who explores a diverse array of mediums, but the works of his I have been looking at are his mixed media pieces implementing constructed wood, tile and mirror surfaces and melted black soap or wax. These pieces implement a similar contrast between solid geometric constructed surfaces and splashed paints and materials that creates a duality in the piece that accentuates the organic splashed forms and the forms with straight lines. Also the materials Johnson uses strike me as compelling due to the texture and properties of the wax and mark making in the drying wax against the wood, mirror and tiled surfaces. (Pictures of Rashid Johnsons Work Below) 

After throwing paint I began to add more paint to a board I started last week. This was mainly to add another layer to the painting and further chip away at another piece, I am unsure at the present moment what it will be but it is at least a step closer to being in its final form. (Pictured Below)

More Later 

Lots Of Love 

John Hancock X