A rich and intense painting using dark blue, purple and red tones
Undeniably, this abstract is a leap into the darkness; that jump off the comfy step we all have to take from time to time.
Definitely a move to the dark side with a hint of cosmological inspiration as its central theme.
THE STORY BEHIND IT
From the feedback I’ve had from my focus group there seems to be a swell of reaction regarding demons and their representation in the painting. Whilst I can see their point it’s worth saying that I have not deliberately set out to do that. I see an ever expanding universe and the primordial soup of life. In fact part of the inspiration for this was seeing a TV documentary on ‘Dark Matter’ and how this was being theorized by physicists all over the world.
It was, however, entirely intentional to make this painting dark. And by that I mean in its mood as well as visually (using dark colours). Most things we see with our eyes will give us an emotional response and as human beings we are entitled to own our reactions. Often these are based on life experiences and, as with most things, it will be different for all of us because our lives are so different.
And it’s that principle that is the crux of Dark Water. I explicitly want you to get an emotional reaction to it, whether negative or positive, because that very act shapes the meaning of it for you. No-one else, only you. If you feel it rejecting you or it sends you to an uncomfortable place that’s fine. Hopefully you’ll see past that and get to the heart of the piece.
On a technical standpoint it’s a triumph of paint blending. The subtleties of the central figures are immense and their clear separation forms the backbone of the painting. Added into this are a number of extraneous applications that bring yet more movement to the piece. Four main colours, a dozen different faces and a thousand tiny details. It’s all going on. And I have used a different mix of paint for this one. It’s still enamel based but a wholly different chemical composition. The result of this is the ability to create super thin layers of paint. Texture is not the aim with this painting, it’s all about the shapes.
Personally, I see no demons at all. Owing to the fact that you can turn this in all orientations you get four very different paintings. The way light reacts to these brings about a change in the personality of the painting as its rotated.
