Red-Mauve Shadow No.2 (Diptych) is a complex gradient made from a basis of mauve tones that are mingled with an overlaying gradient of orange and red oil colours. Depending on the angle one is viewing the work, the oils show different nuances of the colours and the work seems to shift in brightness and tone.
This work is part of the Archaic Shadows series:
Opposed to the expense of lightness there is the depth expressed by shadows. Depth found in gradients where lighter colours dissolve into darkening twilights. Again a book led me to find the words for what I made: In Praise of Shadows pointed out the beauty of what we would consider as darkness.
Shadows linger on the edge of the unknown, mystical and dark. Often made on wood and sometimes appearing as sculptures, these color transitions are grounded but deep. As my first venture into sculptural paintings these works sparked my attention to the object, the artefact and the archaic. This sensation of the ancient and otherworldly fits the idea of a silent wonder yet contains a potency to be further explored.