Searching Coherence, 2019
mixed media and collage on raw canvas, 36" x 36"


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Asked by a fellow artist how I did this painting, this is what I told him. First, I found a bunch of different kinds of papers in my studio. Some with black and white geometric drawings and others with odd depictions with some color, all rejected work but saved for some future use. So, I began to select parts of these strange and uninteresting images, pasting them here and there willy-nilly on the empty raw canvas. In this way I would have something there to react to, something I have found to be an essential catalyst in my creative work.

Applying diluted orange oil color next to the pasted segments, I drew very fast some odd abstract drawings with black and color pencils connecting the pasted papers and the orange areas. As I was doing this, all kinds of ideas came to me that helped me decide how to highlight or downplay what I had done so far. Using recently bought small tubes with iridescent acrylic paint I applied them directly onto certain areas, connecting those different shapes. Holding those little tubes of blue color as pencils, I squeezed them over certain elements to release the paint. They ended up becoming those odd figures that shine a bit in the middle of opaque shapes, a felicitous combination of opaque and shiny elements.

Two days later I decided the action was too packed and intense, so I painted between elements with off-white paint, which lightened up the whole thing. To my mind this last bit resolved the painting. Hopeful now that this brief account will inspire you and others to try similar engagements with paint.



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artwork ©Desy Safán-Gerard all rights reserved