Layering moments, movement, meaning
I am acknowledging that what I post in this space is all experimentation for the purpose of seeing, analyzing, learning and planning. Layering knowledge as the work itself becomes layered with material and meaning is a slow process. I need to see in order to think. Let’s see what happens.
Working on vellum is a different experience. It is smooth and slippery, and it is translucent.
I pulled myself across the page with only the strength of my upper body, and then, once adding black in a second passing, I moved on hands and feet, running like mountain runner pose on the surface to scrape up the black which I feel is too dark. The black may have been a mistake… but I wanted to see how it would work on this paper. The prints made from this color combination have the dusty color of the southwest mesa, and the clay people at Gayhead Beach, MA, where my parents brought us as kids without realizing it was a nude beach.
For the second attempt, I chose purple and turquoise colors for vibrancy, and I attempted to bring in line drawing as I held woody pencils in my hands as they propelled me across the space without control of my lower body. I thought the pencils were not water soluble, so I was disappointed that the line was mostly washed away by the acrylic.
The next step of overlapping the translucent paper atop canvas creates an opportunity to play with layering and veiling. Could also draw on the reverse, or hide offerings or secrets underneath.
I am playing with the idea of a crown on a pillow or a rug at the bottom of the paintings. Having an object at the bottom of the piece forces the viewer to look down before gazing up. The crown has pretty distinct symbolism in dreams: valor, authority, loyalty and higher wisdom. It carries historical and spiritual symbolism as “The Crown of Life” is bestowed upon “those who persevere under trials.”
