3/12/2018 - VITRINE GLASS PAINTING

First I took my glass frames into the workshop to get them measured up to enclose in a wooden box and afterwards I carried them back to my studio for painting.
Using a sponge to fade in layers of submerged landscape, I gently blocked in the background and foreground to appear as if the glass was providing a cross section both above and below the water. I was careful to make no marks on the very front of the first glass panel, as I wanted the front side to have a smooth uninterrupted glass finish without rough and uneven matt paint on top.

I have painted onto glass and perspex before, and always loved it as you are able to easily wipe and scratch away any mistakes, as well as explore interesting mark making techinques and opacity on the smooth surface. The inch thick glass also allowed me to explore some layering effects, especially around the central oil rig, to give a slightly 3D effect of perspective.

I was enjoying my ability to craft an actual physical space out of two dimensional images, as most of my work is typically on a single plane. It was fun to then build an environment between the layers and then control the audience to only look through from a specific point meant I could literally demonstrate my ideas to people in a tangible way.

In this way it kind of reminded me not only of archival dioramas and production of 'realistic' envionmental displays, but also Etant Donnes by Marcel Duchamp, wherein he provides a very perscribed view of a certain moment through the literally arrangement of objects and viewpoint to construct a very particular scene which gains believability in the perception of depth.

I felt very pleased with how this work was coming along. Something about using the two solid double glazing panes was already giving a weight to the work and giving it an insitutional clout.