Monthly Archives: April 2016

Conceptual Paintings for Illuminate

Conceptual Paintings for Illuminate

 

These conceptual paintings for Illuminate were mostly completed in the last few weeks before the opening of the exhibition. The first painting here is titled As I Walk.

 

As I Walk $1350 Oil on canvas 84 * 84 cm

As I Walk $1350
Oil on canvas 84 * 84 cm

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a mixed media painting about the journey through life and its various trials and tests. We all face difficulties and sometimes it is just necessary to ignore everything that is going on around us and just power forward. The silhouettes represent any person walking through life. The colours of the surroundings are the distractions which beset us and sway us from the path that leads to peace and happiness. The giant Chinese dragon’s head hovers above the walkers, but is tied to a different realm and can’t really hurt those he preys on unless they let him. The paw prints offer an alternative to walking through it all.

 

After the Fire $155 Oil on canvas 32.5 * 22.5 cm

After the Fire $155
Oil on canvas 32.5 * 22.5 cm

 

 

 

 

 

 

The second of the conceptual paintings for Illuminate is called bushfire. There is no deep and meaningful agenda here. The painting is a study of light with yellow and red dominating. Yet the purple behind the tree gives the viewer a cool spot to rest his eye. The painting is optimistic because the tree has remained intact despite the passing bushfire.

 

Personal Formulations $1450 Oil on canvas 100 * 100 cm

Personal Formulations $1450 Oil on canvas 100 * 100 cm

 

 

 

 

 

 

The third of the conceptual paintings for Illuminate includes more silhouettes of people hanging from clothes lines in space. The silhouettes suggest that we perceive people in ways that are simplified for convenience sake. It is often the kind of mind that categorises people as stereotypes which also views the world as a kind of movie peopled with characters that are basically one dimensional. Here the only figure with substance is the central dancer – a kind of fantasy figure that could be the projection of a person’s wish to become someone great, or possibly an object of desire.

All three paintings have been added to the website.

Illuminate Paintings

Illuminate Paintings

 

Here are some of the Illuminate Paintings which have been added to the collection on this website.

 

Revelation $6000 Oil on canvas

Revelation $6000 Oil on canvas 120 * 165 cm

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first of these Illuminate paintings is Revelation. This is a large painting painted using a variety of techniques. The colours are quite sombre in comparison to my usual palette.

What exactly is a Revelation? It is a heart and gut felt understanding of something which one has probably already known for a while. However, with the revelation comes a deeper understanding which can be life changing and in the case of the painting even life saving. Here the revelation is almost like a resurrection. The understanding comes when the subject is buried in quicksand or the earth and emerges at the point of understanding.

The air he now breathes is the revelation and it has given him new life. I wanted the drama of the painting to emphasise the crucial nature of a true revelation. Getting the sand to move up the hand and wrist was difficult. I had to mix loose quick brushwork (to create the illusion of movement) with the need to make the sand, rock and dirt look real.

 

Blue $1250 Oil on canvas 100 * 75 cm

Blue $1250 Oil on canvas
100 * 75 cm

 

 

 

 

 

 

The second of the Illuminate paintings is titled Blue. Blue is a modest sized painting which definitely has a fantasy edge to it. The landscape is serene and peaceful. Yet it becomes a base for the powerful, confronting and almost soaring sky. There is no sad mood here. Instead the blue is the colour of freedom, imagination and boldness. The clouds on the right are almost like an angel with its arms outstretched.

 

Geo - Abstract $135 Oil on canvas 20 * 20 cm

Geo – Abstract $135
Oil on canvas 20 * 20 cm

 

 

 

 

 

 

The third of the Illuminate paintings is titled Geo – Abstract. It is a purely experimental painting where thin layers of paint create shafts of light across forms that absorb, deflect or ignore the light. This is a tiny painting and the first of a small series of similar works which I will be doing over the coming months.

All three of these paintings is contained within the gallery on the Conceptual Paintings page of this site.