Oils 1-11, 2010
Oil on canvas
6 á 170 x
Painting is painting. Everything else is everything
else. These paintings are from a subjective point of view tentatively carried
out on the terms of oil colour, with the brush as an extension of the arm and
body, onto the canvas. This is the premise: Inertia of tube colour, the
smoothness of the linseed oil, together with switching movements of the brush
over the prepared and stretched linen canvas, the eye’s registration of
colours, sensations of their inter-relationships. The interplay of these
conditions will unfold until the screen is covered and the picture is at the
height of his potential - and must be stopped before it collapses. The picture
is made in one go, before the oil starts to solidify. The composition begins as
the colour is deposited directly from the tube to the canvas. Then the brush is
dipped alternately in linseed oil, pulling out and mixing the colour, while
setting its mark. In practice, the artist's position in front of the easel and
canvas might resemble the conductor’s stance in front of his orchestra. The oil
being both instruments and musicians, dragged and pushed through a composition
in where composing and recording is done simultaneously. Left is the artwork,
frozen in time, like a recording that can be played at a glance from the
viewer. The eyes listen, time runs again, it sounds.
Photos courtesy GAD/Øystein
Thorvaldsen