As promised, here are the photos of my wood cutouts and my newest diptych painting. I’m working with the myth of Leda and the Swan in these works and I’m so excited with how the wood cutouts have turned out, I’ve already planned another one to do this week. I’m going to paint the cutouts and these will be hung flush to the wall, so they will have both a painted and sculptural element. Perhaps a new direction in my work…?
I’m still working on the patterns I’m going to paint on them, but at the moment, they are just MDF coated in gesso. It’s funny, I really love the whiteness and simplicity of something painted in fresh gesso, but at the same time, I love the busy patterns and colours that I eventually cover the white with. Sometimes I don’t know which I like more though!
It’s been great being able to experiment with different techniques and mediums here. It has to be one of the highlights of this residency, being able to try new things that I normally wouldn’t back home because a) I don’t have the facilities/tools and b) it’s a time for experimentation!
For those of you unfamiliar with the myth of Leda and the Swan, basically Zeus came to Leda in the form of a swan, and depending on the story, he either raped her or they made love. I found it very interesting the vast difference in this “minor” detail, as it completely changes the story. From their union, Leda laid two eggs which bore four children, one of which was Helen of Troy. There are quite a few different versions of this story though. I was also amazed at just how many times this story has been depicted in art. I’ll share more about that in another blog post. I just wanted to post some images today and get back to work in the studio. So here are some pictures of the wood cutouts (they are about 16″ tall), and the new paintings at their very early stages.
