Big Bang Theory No.1

Big Bang Theory Number 1 is one of those rare pieces I paint that encompasses all I love about art. On one hand you have this challenging, apparently chaotic maelstrom of shape and colour bursting out of the confines of the canvas and on the other you have an ordered structure and rhythm born out of randomness. There is no starting point and there is no end. There are no hooks to help you out, you are on your own when you look at this painting. Alone to let it sink in. Perhaps that’s why I love the dip technique the most – it allows you to take away preconceived ideas about representative shapes and even abstracts to a certain degree. No bold shapes, no circles, no big slabs of colour, no faces, no movement and no straight lines. Make of it what you will.

Instead what you have is, surprisingly, a great deal more. I’ve always taken issue with some abstract artists for portraying a very limited set of ideas in their work. Indeed if I stuck to one technique I would become the same. Thankfully I choose to mix it up a little and this is how I can produce so many different paintings on a constant basis using one fundamental technique. I can go to so many places with this type of application and Big Bang Theory is a magnificent example of that.

When I look at this piece I get balance from a distance, a singular, linear mass that has obvious structure but still acting as a single entity. As I move closer I begin to see a completely different story as the detail in the stroke work becomes apparent. These pictures reveal such a small part of the painting but represent the astonishing complexity of the paint and how it has been applied to the canvas. I painted this piece in six sessions, each one being allowed to cure before the next was applied. I’m clever with my mixing so I know how to get what I’m looking for.

There are around ten colours of paint on this piece although blue, white and orange are the main focal colours. Sure, you can use three or four colours and drip those – that produces a simple and effective piece. For drama and reaction you have to go for more and you have to make it complex with big and tiny applications. You have to create an explosion yet control the details. If you’ve ever seen Pollock’s ‘Blue Poles’ you’ll know what I mean. As a technical achievement this piece is about as complicated as it gets. I could go on for hours as to why but that would be boring. Let’s just say that this one has made me sweat more than most!

This particular piece measures 1220mm x 1220mm x 50mm. It was painted in ten shades of industrial enamel paint. Each of the paints was thinned to achieve a characteristically dense but even flowing consistency. The application methods have resulted in a fluid and liquid finish to the piece, offering a glossy and reflective surface on which to look upon. It’s heavy too –  which makes this piece feel substantial and I used a ridiculous amount of paint on it too. The canvas was painted on the floor then wrapped around a seasoned timber frame, so the painting wraps around the edges.

THIS PIECE IS SOLD

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 30th, 2010 at 3:30 pm. It is filed under Drip Paintings 1, See all paintings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.