Backgrounds

Mixed media art

One of our fellow studio artists, speaking of her art process, said once: ‘..I start by splashing some inks onto the paper to see what happens…’

..and then, a background, a serendipity, inspires the rest…

How many incredible artworks have emerged from a splashed-on backgrounds? A foundation, beginning, an insinuation, a subtle guide for the evolution of the painting. What emerges from the work on these random backgrounds can be both unpredictable and conceptual.  Emotional or intentional. Spawning images that would not have been conceived otherwise. 

I wonder whether the emergence of the painting from a ‘splashed-on’ background has anything to do with the painter’s own background, inclinations, esthetics, heritage?

The series of mixed media works by Hung made on backgrounds of failed gel prints are creations not meant to be. Yet, they became foreceful imagery evoking associations of lands, faces, and shapes from cultures of different, distinct backgrounds.

Enough said about backgrounds on which we start a painting – they are undeniably a foundation, an anchor of the composition, and the trigger of unforseen ideas – let’s enjoy the world that emerged from them !