3D Painting

Over the past few months the wave for creating stop-motion videos has once again grabbed me, and clay is typically an essential material in their creation. By exploring different concepts and experimenting with various ways of presenting them through visuals in the videos, it's shifted me to a different way of painting. I'm exploring new terrain in my paintings by creating a form of terrain on the flat surface.

A Visit, 35" x 24", 2016

A Visit, 35" x 24", 2016

By forming a three-dimensional surface, with both subtle and distinct shapes and texture, the piece blurs the lines between sculpture and painting. I like the effect of the properties of clay, such as its natural color, its cracked surface, and the way the paint adheres to it. As the clay dries, it cracks naturally, creating an effect that resembles decay, a reminder of our own vulnerability in this world. 

What's a bit disappointing though, is that in this day of social media and the ubiquity of the internet in everything we do, art benefits when the image of it transfers nicely to our computers, tablets, or phones. Here I go again . . . Maybe most painters/sculptors are somewhat disappointed with how their works transfer to a computer? But in this case, I think much is lost (more than usual) of the painting when seen only through the "lens" of your screen; when seen in person, the three-dimensional nature of the painting changes its look based on the lighting or the angle of the viewer as a result of varying highlights, shadows, and the nature of some of the pearlescent paints used here. 

Detail A Visit

Detail A Visit

This painting references Pablo Picasso's famous blue period, particularly, one of my favorite pieces at LACMA: Portrait of Sebastia Juñer Vidal (1903). 

Detail: A Visit

Detail: A Visit

 

 

Kandinsky And Matisse Were Also Lawyers

Two of the most prominent artists of the 20th century were also lawyers: Wassily Kandinsky and Henri Matisse. Nice.

I've also noticed a similarity between the philosophies of two prominent individuals in art and law from the 20th century: art critic, Clement Greenberg, and former United States Supreme Court Justice, Felix Frankfurter: 

In the early 20th century, Justice Frankfurter was asked by a young man how to become a great lawyer. He advised the man not to limit his studies to the law, but to embrace the study of all fields, including history, art, literature, science, sports, culture, and the environment. 

About fifty years later, Clement Greenberg wrote in his essay Esthetic Judgment: To keep on expanding your esthetic taste asks that you keep on expanding and refining your sense of life in general. To further develop your taste in art, he advises that you keep on learning from life apart from art. 

I've had some people doubt me as an artist because I'm also a lawyer. I suppose they felt prejudiced by the assumption that lawyers must be uncreative. Although the craft differs (which is only scratching the surface), I find the practice of art and law to be similar -- they're both an intellectual process of analyzing, deconstructing, conceptualizing, building, revising, etc., based on life apart from art or law. 

I think that Kandinsky and Matisse would agree. 

Here is the latest Intermission painting

Intermission X, 45" x 45", oil, acrylic, canvas, 2016.

Intermission X, 45" x 45", oil, acrylic, canvas, 2016.