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| “Channel” - Watercolour on paper 120 x 120mm 2002 |
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All 12 major paintings in this series of watercolours were created without brushes. Each image was created in a circular pool of water on the paper. The circular shape is is a reference to biology - a contrast to mechanical shapes.
Watercolour is sometimes seen to be a ‘feminine art material’. ‘Macho men’ tend to use oils or acrylics.
This series aims to uncover aspects of masculinity that may not be usually be seen in art.
Breaking rules in the use of watercolour was a metaphor for a
characteristic of masculinity - the greater tendency for men to break rules (note numbers of men in prison) to want to find a better or easier way to do something.In “Transfuse” the cotton wick that fed colour onto the paper was changed at a particular point in the process. It was then placed in a ‘well’ of red-brown watercolour (like a blood transfusion - except, in this case, the new ‘blood’ was like dirt).
“Channel” used watercolours’ habit to dry while working on an artwork. As
the clear sides started to dry, the paper was tipped to send the bottom blue watercolour to the red-brown spots at the top. The blue had started to ‘pick up’ some of the brown and the paper was tipped in the opposite direction, causing the blue to ‘channel’ down to the bottom, now harbouring a trace of brown in its mix. This process allowed the element of time to be mapped in the work.
The resulting image deliberately resembles a ‘map’ of the internal female
reproductive organs - a bit strange for someone aiming to say something about masculinity!!?!!* |
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