Seeing Red Painting

This one is part of my series of 'Machinimals' series and began in a somewhat different form. I've been preoccupied by the possibility that our metaphors for life processes (initially a useful aid to understanding) have steadily replaced our sense of a living world and are leading us toward catastrophe. Many of these metaphors are machine analogies which lead us further away from anything truly organic and toward our domination by the technologies we build. I believe we are seeing the fruits of this peculiar outlook all around us. Originally, the sheep skull was embedded within or emerging from a cold mechanical womb, seeing with red eyes. At some point during the process, I realised I didn't like the background as it was and, in a fit of exasperation, I obliterated it with a cloth then swiped across it with the strongest colour already on the palette. From the first vivid red smear and the sudden contrast of all that cadmium red against the sheen of bone, those cool tans and yellows, something complimentary was released. Quickly reworking the already well-established shadow areas of the skull, I laid in the complex subtleties of the reflected light which kept the excitement going for the rest of the painting. After a rather different beginning, the picture was suddenly lifted into something altogether more arresting and unsettling.

Painting:Oil on Paper

Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork

Size:24 W x 18.9 H x 0 D in

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