University Campus Suffolk

Artist Research- Katharina Grosse

Katharina Grosse is a German artist whose primary focus is colour in and of itself. Her works, according to her, act as an intermediary between the materialised measurable and the imaginative not yet materialised. (materialised measurable being the architecture and the not yet materialised being the paint).

She works on installations or sculptures all of which are covered in a myriad of bright colours arranged in an abstract fashion. The main focus of her work is to not let the architectural space dictate where her paint and how her paint should be applied.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIy9po_ZLKM

I an interview with MOCA (Link above) she says:

“Painting doesn’t follow the three vectorial rules of architectural space- it has a totally different set of rules. So why should it then behave exactly according to those rules?

“Painted space if unfathomable not measurable- it’s imaginative is something that you think”

Her objective then is to take colour and set it as free as possible- which she does with her sculpture, installations and occasionally paintings. Yes, that’s right….. paintings.

But wouldn’t painting a painting defined by an edge and paced on a wall of a space created by that wall, directly violate her “so why should it (paint) then behave exactly according to those (vectorial) rules?” maxim. Yes in my opinion it would, but perhaps I have misunderstood.

However making the paint the primary subject by putting it in places and using it in ways it wouldn’t necessarily be used certainly introduced the viewer to different scenes and sensations. And has given me a lot of different ideas about how I think about using colour.

Such as painting on different gradients, but in a ‘canvas’ type way. I think it would be interseting to see how colour reacts to being placed on this type of surface, to see how colour and space interact togeather.

For this I would make a surface to paint on out of small boards all of which woud be at differnt angles to each other, creatng a surface of mixed gradients on whcih I could paint.

I would also like to see the effect that colour would have on an every day object such as a table or chair and how that would change the way the viewer would see such an object.

These are both just ideas but hopefully at least one will materialise.

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Change in Ideas

Lately I have been experimenting with the mixing of colour. After noticing some of my palettes from some of my paintings I found it interesting that I had inadvertently made so many different textures, hues and patterns without being aware of it.

So this week I have started experimenting with this idea. Its harder than I though to be able to exactly reproduce the ‘palette’ effect I was after, which sounds a bit counterintuitive as producing something made at random should be the easiest thing in the world. However I have found I was able to produce some sense of what I was looking for.

I think this type of painting gives another dimension to exploring colour it allows me to look at and use colour in a completely different way than i have been doing. What interseted me the most about this sort of painting is the effects colours can have on the viewer.

There is almost a written dialogue when looking at colour in this way in terms of what the viewer takes from it- I thought this was very interseting and i think i will continue to experiment in this way.

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Artist Research- Jean Francois Nielly

Since deciding to explore colour I have come across various artists that have used and manipulated colours either directly or indirectly in their work.

The Artist that first stuck me was the French artist: Jean Francoise Nielly

She is inspired by architecture, not the architecture in Paris- where she works, but architecture as a practice.

She constructs her paintings as an architect would construct a model of a building. She paints bright abstract coloured portraits on a large scale. She predominantly uses a palette knife to work and almost sculpts the paint onto the canvas. She works her way through the contours of the face replacing tonal changes with bright exaggerated colours usually being on opposite sides of the spectrum. This coupled with the large size of her paintings and the sharp lines carved out by the palette knife creates striking, confrontational, energetic and precise pieces of work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hT_l3XyKo8

In a Youtube clip of Nielly working in her studio (link above) she says “There is something too hard and sad about life for me, so I indulge on colours”.

For me Jean Francoise Nielly’s work offered a logistical solution to my first painting in my project. Working on Sierra I found it almost impossible to compile to colours in a way that was tonally convincing. After seeing Jean Francoise Nielly’s paintings however I was able to see how she constructed her paintings through abstract tonal values- which was particularly helpful.

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Painting Sierra (2)

My painting is finally starting to progress. I’ve completely re painted the main planes of the face and have begun to build up the tonal values around the main contours. In addition, I have blocked in the background and coved the entire canvas in paint. This may not sound like much, but I think it has helped to bring the whole painting together.

Looking at the face relative to the black background has helped me to identify how light and dark my facial colours need to be. Up until this point I have been painting almost blind not knowing how light or dark any colours need to be. But seeing painting as a complete whole, I have started to get an idea of where they need to go.

All that being said am I happy with my painting?

In short I am never happy with my paintings. For one reason or another I always think I can do better than whatever it is I have produced- whatever ‘better’ may mean.

Although in this instance I think it met my objectives. However I doubt whether anyone else when looking at my painting will be able to tell what it’s about or what I was trying to portray. But the same could be said for any painting ever painted- except those illustrated in such a way that it’s obvious. So therefore whether anyone is able to tell or not is irrelevant- which is nice, It takes some of the pressure off.

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Concept behind the Painting

Conceptually the painting deals with my friend’s bi polar disorder. Originally I wanted to paint the picture entirely in black and white to exemplify in colour (or tones) the bi polaryness i was trying to convey. However I then decided to use a myriad of bright vivid colours to contrast with the sadness in the photo. I think the colour serves the purpose of representing the manic high that is sometimes overlooked in bi polar disorder. With the image (figure) itself serving to represent the depressive, lethargical side of the illness. I think the dichotomy between the colours and the figure will serve well in realising my intension.

Looking at the image

During a critical review in the first week back one of my peers pointed out something quite interesting about the photograph. The photo itself has many different aspects that could be interpreted as metaphors for bi polar. Firstly the photo was taken in black and white and secondly there is a noticeable contrast between two half’s of the face. The left side of the face looks as if it is being pulled (or clawed- the left hand resembling a claw) resembling pain anger or grief. While the left side of the face remains ‘normal’- calm, content.

I thought these were very good points and offered an extra dimension to the way I thought about my painting.

The only problem is by adding all of the colour would I be over complicating the image?

And by doing so lose all of the bi polar connotations that the original picture contained or will it intensify it meaning through my use of bold conflicting colours?

I think at the moment the former is more true. However I do believe that once the painting is finished my use of colour will help to reinforce the issues I am trying to convey. To do this I think the features of the face need to be clearly defined, particularly the focal points such as the eyes, and cannot be blurred or distorted my an over or incorrect use of colour.

My intension is to build the colours up again starting with the darkest darks and working out. At least then I will have some sort of reference point to base the rest of my structure on.

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