Dan Flavin meets Agnes Martin
Boundaries, edges and limits and how they are perceived, interpreted and understood are predominant concerns in my work. Since the beginning of the pandemic, I observed and experienced the impact of these imposed but yet invisible boundaries. From the physical demand of the 2 meters distance to the new concept of a personal bubble I became super aware of my personal boundaries and how I physically situate or distance myself from others. Sidewalk markers started to appear, tape lines on the ground become the new visual rhythm by which to obey and respect each other’s physical distance. I have to say that I have step on and outside the lines many times. Relationships have been impacted by this distance, my perspective and understanding of these limits have shifted and changed over time sometimes logically, and at time emotionally without grounds. I have felt confused, frustrated and perplexed by this new reality and again, painting has been my beacon. In the early days of the pandemic, I created a series of paintings directly speaking to the line markers I observed on the sidewalks and in stores. I found that it created a rhythm and imposed a specific flow to how we walk and behave.
With a lack of venues to physically show my work and engage with the public, I have been thinking of new -perhaps more interactive ways of experiencing my work. For 2 days on the second weekend of September I explored with a new style of installation combining this series of painting and LED lights. I positioned the lights on the floor as to echo the markers of the sidewalk. I was curious to see the impact of a controlled and untraditional way a lighting painting and the rhythm it could create. The initial intention was to play with warm and cool light colours, but of course due to the colour range options offered by LED, I also ventured into colours. With my two assistants (Adam Flewelling and Alexine McLeod), we observed shadows change tonality, painting colour read completely different playing with our perception and impact us in ways we didn’t expect. We created mood, ambiance and theatrical effects. And in the end, we danced with the lines finding unexpected joyful moments. I am not sure how successful this was, but it allowed me to experience my work in a way that was immersive, playful and unexpected.
The immersive possibilities explored in this installation is one of the things I would like to expand during my MFA research.
Friday night installation
Step on the lines Series showing from the left to the right.
All paintings where completed in 2020, oil on canvas, 16 x 20″
Finding Peace
Distancing
Distance
Calculating
Recalibrating
Saturday night installation
For the second installation, I was looking for a completely different vide. I wanted to use the series of paintings titled “There is a diamond inside of all of us” which was completely different series. This series was a lot more subdued in colour, but yet played with matte and glossy finished and I was eager to see how it would respond to the light. Due to the nature of the work, we decided to cover the floor with white paper to minimize the distraction. We also positioned the light differently in response to the work.
From left to right
There is a diamond inside of all of us – large on turquoise, oil on linen, 45 x 32″, 2021
There is a diamond inside of all of us – on linen #2, 20 x 16″, 2020
There is a diamond inside of all of us – on linen #3, 20 x 16″, 2020
There is a diamond inside of all of us – on linen #1, 20 x 16″, 2020
