The
'chrysalis' abstract cubist oil painting series is a further exploration
of the 'exovenus' series, specifically to increase the dynamicism
of the tecnique. Where the 'exovenus' series took a more stoic
and ethereal approach, 'chrysalis' introduces more dramatic value
jumps and tonal intensities. The composition of the paintings
in 'chrysalis' is much more effective in unifying the desing within
the boundaries of the canvas.
The
basic concept for these oil paintings grew from reasearch into
hyperdimensional geometry, specifically the concept of a fourth
dimension. After the requisite reading of Flatland, I delved into
more scientific and math oriented books on the subject. Interest
was sparked by a geometric concept to describe a 4-dimensional
sphere by isomorphically transforming a sphere into a flat object
so that a 'hyershpere' could be diagrammed.
My
vague understanding of this concept led to thoughts of the interplay
of small elegant curves found in natural objects, these curves
then extended as fuller arcs or complete circles. This led then
to the thought of not only a 2-dimensional extension of the curves
of natural objects, but also that of spheres. I began to envision
faces and figures not with the boundaries we encounter with our
eyes, but of a multitude of intersecting spheres of varying sizes.
Matter was more of a by-product of these intersecting spheres
of energy, which extended out into our environment, linking everything
to everything.
I
began to render objects not as the shapes of the boundaries of
matter, but by emphasizing and extending the small bits of arcs
and curves that combined to make the shapes we see. The color
and value placement was employed to create a visually contradictory
depth, bring some planes forward and receding others all within
the same arc which the eye desires to see on a single plane. This
was done with the analytical cubism approach developed by Georges
Braque and popularized by Picasso, firmly in mind.
Early
works were very busy and detailed, attempting to express every
nuance of arcs blending into another. As the series was explored,
simplicity began to take over as the abstraction developed to
allude to this interplay at work rather than to systematically
define it.