Project 8: Research Task: Visual Dynamics

For this research task we are asked to choose three pieces by artists who we feel use visual dynamics successfully, and explain why they caught our eyes and what we can learn from them for our own approach to creating visual dynamics.

I chose from among the pictures I have on my walls. All of the three I’ve chosen are connected with the sea, as most of the art on my walls is to do with the sea. One is a limited edition print and the others are originals, so I don’t have much detail for referencing. 

The first is this print from a mixed media painting by Ric Stott, a Sheffield-based artist. I don’t know the title of this piece.

I like the sense of movement in this image. At first glance the poured paint looks as though it adds emphasis to the downward movement of the diver, but having lived with this on my bedroom wall for several years, I’ve concluded that most of the vertical lines of the poured paint were probably made with the paper being up the other way, which gives a very different set of potential meanings to the work. The addition of the labyrinth, drawn over both the sea and the diver, adds another direction to the image: as well as downwards and upwards, there is also inwards. This image is, by fractions of a millimetre, 3D. In each of the pieces there is a designed sense of looking through the image, which is an important feature in conveying the translucence of water, and something that I need to bear in mind in my approaching body of work around the theme of water. It’s also interesting to note that the labyrinth extends beyond the edge of the picture. In a painting that concerns itself with the inward depths, the hidden part of the labyrinth adds to the sense of mystery and the unknown.

This mixed media textile piece is “Coastland” by Anne Menary. She lives and works in North Derbyshire and often has pieces in my local gallery. She uses a lot of recycled and found textiles, and this piece uses a scarf as its substrate. The tall and narrow composition encourages us to ‘read’,the image from the top down. So we begin with space, the planets and stars which so often feature in the imaginary worlds she creates. Then follow strips of landscape/seascape extending all the way down the scarf, creating a great depth of view. The boats, which might have been the obvious focal point, almost merge into the distant shore. A full third of the piece at the bottom is taken up with shells and sea glass caught in place by the unusual technique of covering them over with net and sewing around them so that they’re caught in place. The use of net is very suggestive of the activities of those in the distant boats. Also, Menary has allowed the red and green of the scarf to show through in this passage, giving an unusual range of colours to a coastal scene. As with Julie Cockburn’s work, which I researched in Project 7, I’m drawn to the principle of using what is to hand, and, to some extent, letting it be the guide of the creative process. Again, there is the experience of looking through layers, which conveys in action as much as visually, the translucent nature of water.

All I know about this picture is that it’s by Lynne Kerr. There is no title and the label only says that it’s created with silk, by which I assume silk papers are included. I bought this in a shop in Alnmouth so the image is probably inspired by the Northumberland coastline. Again, I was drawn to the vertical composition, which seems in some ways so at odds with the great vast wideners of the sea. However, it does what a panoramic view could not: it emphasises the distance and many crashing waves that would be squashed into a narrow, shallow-seeming band in a panorama. I like the way the waves pick up the silver-white of the moon against dark sky/sea. This seems to draw the moon closer to us than the strip of land on the horizon. Kerr uses layers of lightweight, wispy silk paper to create the through-ness of the image. Feathery silk makes a cloud across the moon and passages of reflection in the mid-ground. The limited colour palette is very evocative of the night. The relationship between the moon and sea is palpable, creating a tension in the visual dynamic.

Things to consider for my own creative work:

• The importance of translucent layers for conveying the fluidity of water
• The use of a limited colour palette (Kerr) or a colour palette that is found and accepted (Menary)
• A practical point: if I’m selling/giving away any work it’s important to attach some detail, such as title, media, website/contact details. The lack of such information on the art on my walls is frustrating!
• The use of different shapes for images. We are so bound to the A series of paper shape  I like the tall thin pieces and I’ve also enjoyed working with squares and circles. The shape of the frame is an important compositional element and allows for different sorts of visual dynamics  for example, the tall, thin images give a strong sense of what is above and what is below, and can be a good way to convey depth.