"Waiting"
Oil on Canvas
Unframed size 26 x 44 in.
Framed size 25 1/2 x 44 1/2 in.
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Artist’s Comments (Artist’s Comments are intended solely for those viewers who would appreciate more information on the motivations and processes involved in each painting. They are not intended to direct how anyone might respond to or interpret my work.)
The Europe Series paintings are based on a trip to Europe with our granddaugter, Chloe. The interiors shown are based on apartments where we stayed, and the girls in the fancy dresses were Chloe and her friends who joined us for part of the trip.
Each painting has undertones of a narrative that goes beyond the surface image: on a surface level this is the window in Florence where Chloe waited for her boyfriend to arrive from Canada. However with the figure in the painting I have tried to suggest questions:
-what does her stance reveal about her character.
-what is she looking at
-what is she thinking
-what is her relationship with the world outside herself?
I have tried to show a sense of apprehension and excitement as whe prepares to go out into the world as an adult. Through manipulation of spatial clues I attempted to show how perceptions can change, and life can take sudden and unexpected turns.
Some visual manipulations used are:
--the window, Escher-like, seems to be open at the top, but closed at the bottom.
--if the viewer's eyes focus on the top of the chair back, the figure seems small, but it the focus is on the seat of the chair the figure seems taller--a metaphor for most 19 year old girls who sometimes seem adult, sometimes a little girl.
--the chair direction changes. It flips from having its back to the figure to having its back to the viewer.
--when the chair direction changes so does the perspective (eye level) suggested by the top of the chair back. As this eye level changes so the figure again seems either smaller or larger.