27 Sept. 2019

This week I started to work on the first painting since the master’s course started. It was quite difficult staring the process due to the fact that it has been a while since I painted on canvas. Initially I approached the composition by drawing figures and trying to make narrative connections, this did not brought any outcome and definitely did not result on how the painting is going to conclude. Thus I decided to configure the painting by adjusting and redrawing abstract forms, creating a ‘space’ for the figures to stand in. This method seems efficient, at least for now. It brought me out of the thematic and narrative stalemate which in many cases, like this pins, me down and immures the process. I have found a way to compose this painting, however the thought that I might am repetitive preoccupies my mind. I incline towards the conclusion that I use patterns and visual traits I already used. This is not necessarily a bad thing contrastingly for now is actually quite positive inasmuch that I have to adjust my painting on smaller scale. Through time I will find my way and so more innovative and unprecedented ideas will emerge on my work. Of course I do not wish to change my painting style but I want to add new compositional and thematic elements and to refresh and readjust these I already accrue.

When I allow myself to paint more abstractly I lose the coherence of the narrative. Albeit choosing this path, as I already said, helped me figuring out the composition, narrative became more random. It is constructed guided by intuition, for example the figure I drew looks like a wizard but even I don’t know how to relate to it. I drew it unconsciously and thus the theme of the painting is not clear. On the other hand I am thinking it does have to be, but still I am not sure.

Some ideas during this week

While I was searching for inspiration on some painters I stumbled upon a medieval winged altarpiece. The religious narrative framed by medieval adornment could be interpreted as a form of sequential art like comics. Then an idea sparked to my mind, to create a vertical painting, until this point I made only once, with less figures probably depicting only one dominant protagonist and framing it with gothic patterns. I am considering combining the abstract with the narrative, and ascending the figure to the sphere of myth, giving it religious status.

I traced back on previous paintings (painting 1) I have created and I found one that has that kind of religious ambience. The problem is how to combine this more gestural way of painting with the clear flat chromatic shapes like the yellow and light blue shapes of (Painting 2). I will figure it out only during the process.

The concept of detaching the figure from the two dimensional surface by drawing it on thick cardboard continuous. For now I just need to create more and more of them in order to clarify how the will relate to each other. In fact I could combine them all in a kind of altarpiece.