As with Schudel’s imagery, I aim to translate notions of ‘nature as divine’, transcendent and mystical. Employing vivid, luminous colour tones, her photographs express flora’s femininity and sexuality; as well as the energised glow of nature before it wilts and fades. By capturing cut flowers underwater, Schudel emphasises nature as delicate, transient and otherworldly whilst giving her images an immersive, aquatic energy.
Day 1: Photographic Research
Anna Halm Schudel: 'Blumen', 2013
I aim to highlight the vibrant yet fleeting life of botany through the series of photographs taken today. By capturing flora in amongst layers of organza fabric, nature takes on a more commercial, synthetic and artificial perspective. I intend to paint from these ethereal photographs, focusing particularly on the translucency, lucidity and layering of paint.
Experimenting with translucency, films of light through photography
Day 2: Aquatic Bioluminescence
Focusing on this relationship between the natural and artificial in my practice has led me to look at bioluminescence in aquatic plants.
A survival mechanism, vivid flashes of fluorescent light startles predators and deters them from marine life. Reminiscent of UV light, a night/city scene and other industrial, artificial concepts, bioluminescence highlights the hyper-intelligence of nature. I plan to use iridescent, luminous colours in my painting to translate this ethereal, otherworldly quality inherent to nature.
Bioluminescent Algae: Unnatural v Natural -Urbanised /commercialised perspective of the organic/natural
Experimenting with luminescent colour washes of oil
Day 3: Materiality: pressed flowers
Thinking about how these elements are placed compositionally has led me to press flowers and other plants which I can incorporate into my painting. This allows for consideration of both the aquatic, free-flowing amorphous components to combine with more definitive, representational elements such as the living pant/flora itself. I consider sculptural painting as these pressed flowers will elevate from the canvas as a kind of relief to the two-dimensional picture plane.
Pressed flowers: combine with painterly surfaces as relief /sculptural painting
Day 4: Compositional Research
Pressing, ordering and presenting flora in a cohesive manner made me consider the importance of compositional elements such as the silhouette, motif and negative/positive space within an image. This, alongside photographic experimentation has made me think more about pictorial construction and how I might go about presenting such imagery. I have therefore spent today collating and combining botanical, aquatic impressions and shapes together to create digital collages to work from. I intend to translate these digital compositions onto canvas.
Digital Collages as compositional research
Day 5: Formalisation
Since having created these digital compositional collages, I have decided to focus on painting and translating the ambiguous shadowed shapes and indistinctive botanical impressions captured on the folds of translucent organza fabrics within my photographs. I am intrigued by the way in which flora combined with light, translucence and films of synthetic fabric/material creates an abstract, commercialised visual of organic, natural subject matter.
Elements of photographs best representing light reflection and shadowing: to convey abstract botanical impressions
Day 6: Practical
Today I painted from my chosen visual material, paying specific attention to thinning down and layering films of oil paint to translate this aquatic translucency. I have tried to produce an image whereby the various shapes flow seamlessly through one another to create dynamism and a free-flowing, submerged aesthetic. I have employed ultramarine, titanium and magenta oils in order to achieve this luminosity/commercial perspective to botanical material, as evident in bioluminescent algae and other marine life. These colours, combined with prussian blue washes, creates a submerged, immersive composition; its representational elements made less distinguishable through layered surfaces/states of matter.
Foundation layers, oil on canvas, 50cmx40cm wide
Finished work, oil on canvas, 50cmx40cm wide
Day 7:
Planned Diagram of painted triptych
Moving forward, I wish to produce a triptych whereby all three paintings translate indistinctive yet dynamic translucent shapes and shadows of botanical impressions. Utilising specific colour-ways, I hope to translate this commercialised yet otherworldly and ethereal representation of underwater flora. I will continue to paint from sections of my initial research photographs; which I have cropped and finalised on Day 5 of my residency week. Viewed as a collective allows for an immersive and dynamic experience, whereby ambiguous, abstract forms flow seamlessly from one canvas to the next.