I am currently developing the Immersion Painting series. A body of work which sees me wholeheartedly returning to painting.
I have been skirting around the periphery of disciplines for a while now with one foot firmly planted in the drawing camp. I have discussed in past blog posts Matisse’s view that drawing and painting are the ‘same.’ Having reflected upon this I am not entirely sure that they are. They ‘feel’ very different to me. Drawing feels ‘safe’ like I am in control whereas painting on the other hand requires the courage to really let go and for the best results just allow the medium to do its thing - with some guidance of course. That is the challenge, getting the balance between holding back and letting go.
In addition to the working process I am finally letting go in terms of my personal response to the subject matter. I am now immersed inside of these hedgerows and the experience of being so is really very powerful indeed. Lots of childhood memories relating to ‘hedge camps’, sheltering from storms etc. From that stems feelings of security, nurturance and safety. In addition there comes a sense of dissolving into the landscape, invisibility, non - self and meditative, peaceful associations.
I am speaking largely of my own experiences here. So, how then to communicate this visually to the viewer? These current works are easel size, I am considering in the next phase making them much larger to encourage a phenomenological response. To bring to the viewer a sense of transcending their own external boundaries, stepping into hedgerows and reawakening experiences of past immersions into nature.
