Story behind the work: ‘The Artist Prefers Colour’

14 Jan

‘The Artist Prefers Colour’. 2021.
Oil on gessoboard.

A little backstory: It's taken years to “simplify” my arts practice to a focus on painting (during Art school I would endlessly experiment with sculpture, film, installations etc), and at the beginning of 2021 I was torn between my love of painting realistically (the placing of lines and shapes in their “right spots” gave a similar satisfaction to putting together a jig saw puzzle) and my more imaginative stream of consciousness work that was a contemporary mix of Cubism and Surrealism. One possible solution I pondered was to combine both: by layering my Cubism / Abstract / imaginative style on top of something realistic. I had the idea for ‘The Artist prefers Colour’, a painting combining a realistic self portrait with a colourful abstract version of the portrait echoed semi-transparently on top, several months before Sydney’s second lockdown created time to finally paint it.

When deciding on the composition of this work the possibility of the imaginative contemporary style aspect being semi-transparent was an early assumption: when I create these imaginative works Stained glass often pops into my mind. I suppose I’ve always been enchanted with the mixing of transparent colour - I have a strong memory of being 9 years old holding up cellofane to light streaming through the awning windows transfixed by how the cellophane changed colour when another colour overlapped it.

The parts of the painting grounded in realism (ie. the chesterfield armchair and figure sitting) are based on a reference photograph I took myself with an SLR camera set with a timer. I prefer figures in dynamic poses as these offer rich shapes and line to play with especially with the colourful abstract version which is based off it. It creates visual energy.

Once I had the reference photograph I uploaded it to Adobe Illustrator and constructed the composition of the colourful abstract figure. Whilst I love working in a stream-of-consciousness improvised way, for this painting I needed to pre-plan a clear reference that accurately showed how the transparent colours of the abstract figure would interact with one another and with the skin tone of the realistically painted figure showing underneath. I used this final image to use as a guide to mix my colours but did make some minor adjustments to the composition (for example I made the abstract head smaller and more to my liking once I started painting).

I love peoples different interpretations of the end painting.

Many have said that the colourful abstract overlaying the figure communicates a manifestation of the persons dynamic spirit or their inner goddess.

Others have said it suggests an alternative reality.

I titled the painting to reference the initial push and pull I felt between Realism and my imaginative style. ‘The Artist prefers Colour’ is about the wish each of us to relish in the colourful and dynamic possibilities of ourselves.