Friday, September 6, 2019

Mira's Artsy News Notes for Sept.6, 2019

Mira ‘s Artsy News Notes: September 6, 2019


                    Adrift No More      Oil, Cold Wax, Pigment Sticks, Soft Pastel, Graphite, Canvas 36”x72”   © Mira M. White 2019


     This  painting is my way of trying to capture my current feelings about life- a combination of being caught and free, of being influenced, mentored and simultaneously standing alone.

     I want to share with you a bit about my process and this painting, which has been occupying my attention since the beginning of 2019.  It is a large canvas and spans a good chunk of my apartment studio wall.

    I am writing about it precisely because it is difficult. The beauty of visual art is that the viewer brings her/his own impressions and response to the painting. I rarely try to express my art and my intention with words. But this painting is different for me. It originally  began with the intention to express my personal philosophy  within  a familiar traditional format and method of rendering form. In the past, my approach to symbolic imagery was more literal, engaging portraiture and a sense of “cosmic space.”  The first iteration of this work , buried under all these layers, was a portrait head and cascading roses in an atmospheric space.

     I tried to make it work for several months, only to end covering up the whole painting about 3 times because I found it boring, unsatisfying and did not at all represent who I am right now. And I did not  work on it with any regularity.  I decided to let time assist me.  It did.

     Most of my visual art these days has been on the “ abstract spectrum”, rich layers of mark making and multiple media.  This painting needed to be something different for me and I found working with a minimal palette, incorporating my propensity for linear mark making, loose grids, and creating multiple layers, each quite different in figuration, extremely appealing and intriguing to me.

 In a sense this piece is a natural follow up to my large encaustic piece: Webbings and the Red Rectangle. and a couple of smaller encaustic pieces.  I find the superimposition of defined geometric shapes upon more organic,  gestural processes, very compelling.  I do not know about future works; I just felt the need to talk about this one.
 This is also my way of thanking you for all your support for my work.