Behind the "Shadow of My Former Self"

I've had some inquiries and remarks in the past month or so regarding my painting, "Shadow of My Former Self" - which is on my portfolio site and is currently my Facebook profile picture. What is not apparent from the digital images of this piece is that there is a three-dimensional aspect to the composition. Here's the painting:

"Shadow of My Former Self" - 2010 - 36" x 48" - Oil on canvas - ©2011

Here's the painting hanging in my front hallway to give you a better sense of scale:

Now, here is a photo from the side, or a "profile" shot, of the painting:

 

It should be more apparent here that there are small protuberances where the fingertips appear to come in contact with the canvas. It is a subtle effect, but - I feel - one that adds a certain "je ne sais quois" to the piece. Yeah, that's right. I didn't want to hit the viewer over the head with the 3-D quality of the canvas, I intended for it to just be "off" or even a touch unsettling, particularly when viewed from a slight angle.

It is worth noting, at this point, that this painting was actually an experiment. In my initial idea, I wanted to create a piece that depicted something almost trapped within it. It should seem as though there exists another reality on the opposite side of the canvas, as if it were a translucent window into another world, because, really, isn't that what a work of art is in many ways? A window into the artist's reality, or, perhaps, his or her mind? All right, I've written too much. I'm big on the subjective interpretation of the individual viewer and, frankly, I don't want to get philosophical here - back to the nuts and bolts.... Just painting it without the 3-D quality would have been too ambiguous. I needed to reinforce that this wasn't simply a painting of a silhouette, there was substance to it. The shadow was cast by something - someone - tangible. Now, I have a number of other ideas for artworks that will utilize this technique, but this initial experiment had to be something that I could create quickly and simply, so I came up with a rather straightforward composition with easily crafted pressure-points: fingertips. Here's what happens when you look behind the curtain:

 

 

Here you can see the backside and frame of the canvas. The small board is attached to one of the braces between the frame and canvas. If you look closely you can note the small spherical pegs attached to the board, which are pressing against the inside of the canvas and creating the fingertip impressions. Upon installation of this wooden plane, I felt that there wasn't enough pressure exerted on the canvas; therefore, I reinforced it with a few pieces of cardboard to increase its thickness and, in turn, applied precisely the right amount of stress to the canvas that I had intended.

I know a magician shouldn't reveal his secrets, but as I mentioned, there have been some queries about this piece, so I thought going in depth about the crafting of it would prove intriguing for some. There will be more pieces like this, and - with a little luck and lots of ingenuity - they will become more involved and complex. But, with this concept, for every idea, there are serious logistical and construction issues to consider - and they in turn have ramifications when it comes to composition and aesthetics.

Plus, I've got other projects goin', so I may not crank this series out as fast as I would like. Speaking of other projects, I just gessoed a canvas for the next Unrefined painting. Maybe I'll do some "in progress" posts, to better illustrate my process... then again, maybe not. You'll have to stay tuned.....

- Ian