I signed a 36 x 48 inch painting today, one I started less than 3 weeks ago. For me, this is unusual, as my pieces tend to get thick and go through various metamorphoses over months or more. Its color theme, so to speak, is white among mixed warms and cools. It is a not thin/not thick automatist painting, with a compositional foundation in a large circular form integrated within the individual strokes. It is subtle but undeniable, physically; it is there within an otherwise field pattern of forms and squiggly lines and circles, melting subtly. It is important for the power of automatism, for the psychonautic value of Art painting, that the painting manifest itself subconsciously in the mind of the viewer.
With or without image or narrative content, the subtle compositional unity of the individual strokes manifests itself within each ascending level of composition, until the macro composition is unified with a single binding form or shape. In this approach, the more subtle the better, usually, for exercise of the mind.
There is something that happens to the eyes and mind when we are introduced to an environment, in this case a painting, which harkens emotions and sensations beyond our usual experience and therefore beyond words. When this happens without content, the mind is free form usual experience, as even dream-like surrealistic content or image involves the cognitive consciousness.
I believe that this can build to content and a branch of representational methodology, but the power of this approach to Artmaking comes from the effect of pure abstraction on the mind. In this painting, the abstraction has a pulse, defined by the aforementioned subtle circular foundation.
I decided to call this piece finished even though the ideas and opportunities specific to the piece itself are not fully explored. I view this method as one that requires a number of pieces taking a number of forward steps or alternate directions, each learning from the previous painting and the oneness of the group.
I wished this to be a 2 week and not a 2 year painting, though I was open to the idea if necessary, but continuing this piece might belie the compositional point that it makes, and some steps forward are worth keeping for themselves. In a nutshell, the piece works, I feel ready to let it go, and confidant that it is an important piece to my efforts to contribute to Art at its core.