Separate or Combine (white II) Painting

White: The color of milk or fresh snow; caused due to the reflection of most wavelengths of visible light; the opposite of black. Colorless, unpigmented, bleached, natural, snowy, milky, chalky, ivory. White out: Become impaired by exposure to sudden bright light, or to lose color vision as a prelude to losing consciousness. Painting for the sake of painting or L’art pour l’art in a contemporary light. Painting completely abstract non-figurative pieces focusing on the materiality of paint, balance in composition, space, stroke, line, layers, transparency, textures, negative space, etcetera all while attempting to find a balance between control and impulse. My work deals with abstraction and non-figurative art. My main concerns will be manipulation of the medium, i.e. the paint, composition, exploration of the colour white and overall balance in the piece, all while exercising restraint and complete awareness. In this body of work I will be experimenting with paint for pure painterly pleasure and along the way, will be exploring some rules and notions of painting. These are common laws such as compositional rules (rule of thirds, rule of odds), design rules (unity, rhythm, balance), and so on. I also plan on exploring the concept of white space or the Japanese concept of ‘Ma’. Ma is a Japanese word, which can be roughly translated as gap, space, pause or the space between two structural parts. The spatial concept is experienced progressively through intervals of spatial designation. In painting, the empty space (ma) is used to enhance the whole of the painting. Ma is a positive word; it refers to the space in between. The concept of Ma is a powerful concept with many faces and layers. Ma has its routes in the Chinese philosophies of Taoism and Buddhism. Unlike the negative connotations that words like blank and emptiness have in the western world, Ma is a coveted state of mind that Buddhists and Taoists alike seek to attain. Ma refers to what is not there in a painting rather than what is there. The silence rather than the notes in music. And the stillness rather than the movement in dance. It refers to the space between events - as being perceived by someone, as well as being expressed by an artist. It is not an abstractly calculated space, as is conceived by Westerners, but rather a sensory, and a sensually perceived space. In this series, through the medium of painting I plan on furthering my exploration of the colour white, by limiting my palette. My handling of paint is intended to cause an effect of confusion to the viewer, the colour usage, the difference between thick and thin along with the use of shadows is a deliberate visual trickery. While working with the materiality of the medium (acrylic paint), slowness, complete awareness, constant reflection, the Japanese aesthetic principle Ma, and an exploration into the contradicting ideas of control and impulse, I aim to further my understanding and development of my own visual language. The reason I chose the idea of Ma is because it talks about what is not there in a painting rather than what is there: the space in-between, the intervals, the gaps. I feel my works greatly lacked in that area. Throughout this series I plan on constantly looking at my works and working with restraint, deliberation and slowness while constantly reflecting. My plan is to be aware and find a balance between impulsivity and control.