Who We Are

Like a good little art student I finished my stay in Finland with an exhibition of my work. I'm not really sure how I feel about the series as a whole. I had a chance to refine my technique and work out some concepts. It was quite the switch from the factory production pace that is expected in Montreal. When I stand back it feels like just another drop in the bucket. I feel an incessant drive in the back of my head and despite my best efforts I have not even begun to define it. I wonder now if it will ever be defined or will this be the buzz the pushes me to my limits till my time has come. At the moment I think that the answers I am seeking lies within some abstract art theory or psychology text, so my research must continue.

Animus and Persona

Anima

 

Shadow

These four pieces represent Carl Jung's main archetypes, the organizing principles of human thought and personality. I chose this theme for my stay in Finland because I felt that it would effectively cross any cultural barrier, and believe me there was a bunch of them.

In order to encourage people to actually comment on my work, I covered one wall in paper and wrote 'Who Are You' in the center. Even in an English environment it's like pulling teeth to get comments about your work so I thought this would be a bit encouraging. The images above is the result after a 3 week exhibition. In the end there was a lot of great answers and I'm glad I included it.

Reflecting back on the show I couldn't help but think about the marketability of this series or even portraiture in general. For whatever reason I am drawn to that particular style of expression, but I can't really see a use for it besides my indulgent need to endlessly create and express the ideas whirling around my head. I suppose we will all have to wait and see what becomes of me and my work.

The devil is in the details

Today I spent some 4 odd hours poking at Persona's hands. I'm pretty sure I only made them worse. Some days your painting is like a bratty child, it just won't do anything you want it to. In my frustration I moved on to the first mask. It started off pretty well, but I am a little concerned about the size and placement of highlights. I suppose the only thing I can do is keep on working.

Handsy

Hands detail WIP

Today I started work on Persona's hands. For some reason getting started was like pulling teeth. I knew what I had to do, I knew how to do it, but for 2 hours I just stared. Thankfully I finally managed to focus and get something done. It quickly became one of those nights when security rolled around and I had to leave even though I was painting at full steam. Days like this is exactly why I miss 24 hour studio time.

Persona Day 2

Good news: The new painting technique I am trying out works wonderfully. It just requires a bit more focus than my usual.

Bad news: In a moment of contemplation I realized that my composition now reflects Michael Myers.

Its funny how paintings can evolve and pull visual cues from all over no matter my intention. Now in order to fix this interesting development I am going to have to be a big boy and make my final compositional decision and figure out how to depict the 'masks'. I can tell already that this choice will either make or break the painting. The masks will be a conceptual and visual focus so the pressure is on to make the right choice. I was hoping to cheat a bit and just have white theater masks, but as I pointed out that's not going to work. It will still be a few days before I start painting the masks so I have some time to think. Today I focused on the upper body. Something about the lighting is bugging me, maybe a bit too bright. I will tone everything down on Monday and make his abs more defined. I don't think I will touch his face anymore and once I settle on a hair style I can declare the head finished.

Been a while since I posted because of general procrastination issues, but as it is several people have been inquiring about the professional advertisement of myself. So logic says I need to get on that shit. I will try to keep the world up to date and pull some work out of the dark reaches of my closet to share.
As for the lovelies depicted above, they are to be a series I have been working on for the past few months. They are based in Carl Jung's theory of personality drawing upon his concept of archetypes. More details shall be shared in future posts.