Trust Print

2020 24” x 24” acrylic on canvas 4 Views on Surface By artist Courtney Cotton Trust the painting that I submitted for this member exhibition. It is a painting that was re-worked due to a comment from a viewer that made me question the composition on the surface of the canvas. Surface as display Prior to reworking the painting, was the creation of the surface, made by mixing acrylic paint with water and mixing mediums, then pouring the mixture onto the surface. After the paint sits and stains the canvas I manipulate the paint by pulling and push it with drywall trowels and a silkscreen squeegee. Ending in a result that enhances the texture of the canvas surface, creating a jean or denim look. Surface as material The comment that was made noted that the painting looked like a cat. It was so far from my intention or the painting’s intention that I added a paper airplane, an image I often use, to quell any fears of a cat being seen again. Surface as distraction What do we really know? For further play, I added a shadow of a military fighter jet verses the paper airplane. I like Weelden & Schilperood’s paper on the conceptual representation of incongruent shadows to explain my imagery. Instead of being inserted as a natural phenomenon, this rhetorical shadow invites the construction of meaning, and instead of being a mere natural companion of its casters, it reveals things about the caster. Three so-called “shadow incongruity types” are distinguished: (1) shadow revealing the “true nature” of its caster or the “hidden contents” of the caster’s mind; (2) shadow marking some transition its caster is involved in; and (3) shadow suggesting a certain quality attached to one of a shadow’s main ingredients (casting object, light source or surface). For each of these types of rhetorical shadows, we demonstrate that the way they convey meaning basically follows the principles of perceiving and understanding natural shadows. Surface with shadow Title Trust Media Acrylic on Canvas Dimensions 24” x 24”x 2” Price $750. Exhibition History: 2021 Member Show “ Beyond the Surface” Core Gallery, Denver CO For More Day to Day follow me on Instagram or on FaceBook