“Organic Growth”- A New Point of View

I’ve been reflecting on my use of point of view in my artwork lately- many, if not most of my pieces really take shape outward from the surface of the canvas, utilizing the 3D nature of the elements that I use.  Even when I use paper and texture to build up the surface of the canvas, the point of view is still that of a traditional painting, i.e., the horizon line is perpendicular to the canvas, and when the canvas is hung on the wall you see the picture straight on.  In this painting, I really changed things up, and instead of seeing the painting straight on as its’ hung on the wall, you are getting a birds eye view.  Basically, the canvas itself is the horizon line in this piece of work, rather than the horizon line being drawn as part of a picture on the surface.  When it is laying flat and you are looking at it from the side, that is when you are getting a straight on view of this piece.  It’s as if a vast, organic city is growing from the canvas surface.

This piece has so much movement- the different heights of the paper rolls, and the fact that they are so close together, make it seem as if more will appear from beneath the surface of the canvas as the others continue to grow.  It’s as if I’ve captured the growth of this organism, city, landmass- whatever you want to call it- in the midst of a growth spurt.

The combination of deliberately rolled and placed paper pieces and the randomness of the wax and rust splatters show organization growing out of chaos. It is in the middle of a transformation- from a collection of random elements to something complete and fully formed.

Do you remember that pretty terrible Superman movie with Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor? (He actually is perfect in that role, the best part of that whole show.)  At the end when the crystal landmasses are growing from beneath the ocean, that is what I think of every time I look at this piece.

A New Point of View