OSCILLATE

Acrylic on canvas, 10 x 10 IN. 

 To oscillate means continued movement, side to side or up then down. It’s the process of that movement, that vacillation between opposites. With this piece, I oscillated.

This may seem like a simplistic composition but looks can be deceiving. This was actually one of the harder paintings I have ever approached. Size had most everything to do with it. In younger years, it was a big canvas that intimidated me. It felt so imposing with its broad, blank space. Even looking at a canvas of any larger size was suffocating, meaning it would suck out all the oxygen in the room. But, these days, a wide and open canvas is a space I can’t wait to dive into so trying a smaller canvas is a completely different universe. That was the point of this piece and the several blank canvases of this scale I have yet to paint.

The reason I have canvases of all sizes is for the adventure of exploring the different atmospheres. I love the challenge, the whole “Here I go but where the heck am I going?” This anxious feeling was very present during the whole process of the piece until I just embraced it. The layers were constructed to express this struggle. In juxtaposing circles overlaying lines as well as the pattern visible within those circles, the composition has a certain surface tension. The tension isn’t only in the forms but also in the palette and empty space. Theoretically, the visual weight of the piece should be pulling the eye to the lower right quadrant because that’s where things are most busy, as it were. But, having all the negative space in the upper left quadrant framed by the circles, the composition finds unity and balance that’s satisfying.

It’s a universal question for artists that people ask and we ask ourselves, “How do you know when a painting is done?” With this piece, I definitely had that question over and over until I finally signed it. Like I said, I oscillated. But, like when we all oscillate, we always know which side we’re leaning towards. That negative space became a visual resting point that made the most sense. There’s a part of me that wonders whether this composition would work on a larger scale, then I know it could. I think I learned more in this piece than my recent larger work. Changing things up is definitely a good call!