After the false / exaggerated smile and the flirtation with the effective but immensely time-consuming pixellation moved on to taking photographs of people with a grid superimposed on their faces. ie Like a superior gridding used to duplicate faces accurately but using the additional effect of the distortion of the projected lines due to the surface topography.
When I translated this to painting ...I used MDF board as a support into which I cut the grid lines to give them a narrow definition and some sort of other dimension.
This worked OK and the gridding became more and more interesting in its own right. After expirimenting on Nadia I progressed on to more expressive and intensive efforts.
Heavier scoring and greater bleeding of the scrubbed back painted surface gave a greater visibility of the grid which seems to reinforce the angst expressed in the face.
Pursuing a smaller and heavier grid still further yielded greater tension in the image felt particularly when you see the deep scores close-up and personal. Something primeval and visceral.
In a more benign image a smaller grid still gives added interest to this full frontal portrait in a different way ...being somewhat more aesthetically pleasing where the grid lines happen to flow well with the contours of the face.
The previous connotation of being trapped in the grid is not apparent here...??
Multiple images of the same figure was then attempted to investigate other potential uses of the grid as a representation of other dimensions...time,space
Getting a bit freaky here in a seventies psychaedelic way.
All of these paintings are large and have a physical presence when seen in the flesh. I think they are interesting and the technique is worth pursuing further if some fresh ideas come along.
