‘The Space in Between’
is a groundbreaking new artwork using a radical new technique
160cm x 120cm (63″ x 47″)
Aureole
£4995
‘The Space in Between’
About the painting
is a medium sized abstract paintings created with a technique that I have never seen before – more on that later. The painting is essentially a pair of offset, opposing circle patterns that are made up of red, orange, white , pink and sliver enamel paints.
The base is a dense black that has a semi-sheen finish so it has the rather wonderful ability to reflect certain wavelengths of light. Tis means you get a very slight reflection of its environment which has the effect of changing the color of the black and morphing it into different tones. It’s hard to explain but very engaging to walk around.
The brand new tech
For a long time I wanted to paint halos. I first noticed them when I saw what came off my spin table after painting.. I get these rings of paint appear on the floor of the paint pod and very often they look incredible. So, we set about designing and building our very own halo Spin Machine that we nicknamed The ‘Spin-O-Matic’.
The rig, which has a very small footprint, is entirely battery operated and can be used via a remote control. This means I can place the machine on a piece of canvas and spin without wires or any interference. Just load it with paint and go for it.
Of course, with anything new like this, I need time to get used to what it does and explore the possibilities (and discover the shortcomings). Some time later we decided to do the first proper halo paintings live on air and you can see this painting (as well as one other) created in full in the video below.
The result
What you get from all this innovation and foresight is a painting that hits you from a number of different levels. Firstly, as a composition of forms, it’s effortlessly beautiful. The circles are perfectly balanced from either side and offset in the same place both ways so it never feels uneasy or weighted.
Then there is the colour choice. In my mind these are timeless. The combination of red, orange and black always feels warm and centered. Then we get to the halos themselves. If you have a look at the close up images you can see how complex these structures are – formed out of a number of separate spins and matching paint applications.
I varied what paint when on, hew thick or thin it was, the volume of it and how long and how fast it spun for, variables like these are critical to how a panting will come out and part of the juggling act in doing this is to know when it’s going right and wrong so you can make adjustments along the way. And remember I did this live and unedited so that becomes another pressure to balance.
Overall i am thrilled with how this came out. It is the first of its kind and I have , until now, never seen another painting like it anywhere and certainly not made in the way I have done it. So I am immensely proud of achieving something new and distinctly Swarez. Watch out for more to come.
