Cheval

Comment

Comment by Resident Curator on February 13, 2014 at 10:40am

Curator’s Comments: 

 

I’m intrigued by this sculptural painting titled Cheval.  I can’t ascertain, even with medium and dimensions provided, if this is a free standing piece or a panel painting on a shaped support.  The title itself adds to the object’s mystery; referring to either a dual language interpreter or a medieval artillery/battery ram. What I can see is an interesting interplay between the liquid drips and pooling shapes moving along the vertical plane.  The surface appears to twist under the influence of a supernatural force, employing both warm and cool vibrant hues.  The log like shape is not quite figurative, but conjures natural organic forms.  The two dimensional paintings that also utilize this surface treatment are more active, having tighter grouped dripped shapes and patterning.  Some appear to have been created through decalcomania or other transfer processes, and therefore contains an aura of randomness or chance.  The smaller acrylic work titled Passion has an enjoyable proportion of orange versus blue bursts of pigment, creating an amorphous warm central body with a cooler periphery.  But I’m not quite sure about the Asian symbol scratched into the bottom right corner.  As the only shape of its kind in the picture plane it takes on strong and perhaps undue emphasis. For me, these pieces speak to unsystematic compelling forces and are beyond language of any kind.