The first painting I did tackles the "appropriation" theme. I appropriated from a few sources, merging them together to create a cohesive whole. The sources are:
1. the main reference is a photograph taken by my grandfather, who was a painter and a photographer in the military.
2. the composition and color palette are influenced by Van Gogh's "Agostina Segatori Sitting in the Cafe du Tambourin".
3. the color palette is also influenced by the colors of the south of France, where my grandmother (the subject of the painting) grew up. The colors point to the south of France generally, but are also taken from an old poster of Bandol, which is the town where my family is from.
The piece is exploring the nature of family connections, a study of how the past and the future come together to create a familial identity, through storytelling, memory, and artifact. The composition is set up so as to off balance the peace of the domestic scene. I used a limited color palette to create cohesion throughout the painting, despite a number of bold colors being used (orange, chartreuse, and blue).
My second painting responds to the "found materials" theme. I wanted this piece to be tied into the last one, so I stuck with the family photos for reference materials. I've been exploring quilting as an art form, so I decided to tie that into my painting for the found material prompt. Quilts draw to mind a sense of nostalgia and memory, so I think the quilt square is a fitting motif to include in this series. The other "found materials" component of this painting is the wooden board -- just like these old photographs that I've been using as references, it was sitting in my basement, unclaimed, about to be thrown out.
I placed the quilt square in the bottom left of the painting, so that the composition would tie together with appropriation painting, despite the differences in medium. For the style, I wanted to experiment and see what I could come up with. I didn't go into the painting knowing exactly how it would turn out, but wanted it to *feel* right. The result is a little bit spooky, but I think it fits the energy that I was going for. It definitely resembles the reference photo, but it still has its own being as a work of art. I think it communicates something beyond what the reference photo is saying.
The third painting of the quarter is inspired by the "expanded representation" theme. I had a lot of fun with this one, because it's really outside of my comfort zone. Similar to the last one, I didn't have a clear picture of how this would look before starting -- I worked on building up layers of color until I found a composition that was aesthetically interesting without any representational elements. Once I reached that point, after about five layers, I worked to incorporate some kind of representational elements that wouldn't distract or subtract from the abstract elements of the painting. I decided to incorporate a loose reclining figure in the bottom right (which is the small tie to the other paintings) of the piece. It's rough enough that it is cohesive with the painting, and I think the dark blue ties in nicely with the abstract lighter blue shapes in that area. It's clearly a figure, but there are still questions about how it sits in relation to the rest of the painting: is she reclining atop a cityscape, does she lay out in the sun, or is she entirely disconnected from the world that she rests in? While I am very pleased with the finished product, I think it would be more powerful in a larger format.
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