I seem to experience the work differently in a gallery. Certainly context infers value and meaning. Of course, a gallery is a painting's natural home, but an even more natural home is an owner's walls.
One thing which is a little bemusing at times is that a work can seem large in one environment, and yet minuscule in another. Large in my studio, yet small in the gallery. So today I concluded it is time to move up in scale. When a work looks oversized in my studio, I can probably estimate it will be perfectly fine in a reasonable sized gallery. Why think small when you can think big? The same applies to my painting. That's not to say small isn't exquisite. Undoubtedly it is. My five year old Elm bonsai tree is testament to this, also is the wondrous tiny hummingbirds that appear in my work. But soon a work demands a more expansive space. The natural inclusions demand a greater living environment. A bowl? A basket? In fact a WORLD. So it is the difference between painting 'Objects in Space', and painting 'Worlds Filled with Objects'.
Now this work is hung it is time to complete the third of these circular panel pieces and then look to larger horizons. I always thought it was the objects I wanted to paint but I think this is transforming; more likely is seems I want to create worlds filled with beauty. This might sound a tad cheesy, but I have no other way of expressing it. A world filled with beauty.
My brother J never knew a world of beauty growing up. And right by his side, for many years, it felt as though I never knew a world of beauty either. If I could envisage painting such a surrogate world to replace his tainted world, what would this world look like...? This, of course, is the possibly deluded vocation of an artist seeking to heal the woes of his world. To put wrongs to right. But some wrongs can never be righted. J's world can't be undone, for example. Though some events in life can still be honoured and a sense of resolve sought.
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