Rectangles

When people ask my partner what my artistic medium is she will very often reply "Rectangles". I laugh at this response but only because I know it to be a slight truth. A lot of my art for the past several years has been variations on the theme of rectangle. I am not exactly sure why this is the case. Perhaps it is because of my obsessive compulsive tendencies which are soothed by the right angles and crisp lines of a rectangle, but this cannot be the only reason as some of my rectangles are created out of smeared and wobbly lines and I like those rectangles with equal measure. Perhaps it is the infinite compositional possibilities that exist when you put a couple of rectangles on a page and move them around in relation to one another. Even the smallest shift in height, width or overlap can open up a brand new sense of space and feeling within the composition. Or perhaps it is because my world if visually full of rectangles - I live in an urban area with buildings and signs and streets which are all rectangles and I sit in front a rectangular computer screen which showcases data in rectangular windows for much of each day.

Is it any wonder then that I go to the rectangle when I engage in visual artistic expression - if it makes up so much of what I visually intake in the world - it seems to also makes sense that I would express interpretations on that theme in my creative output in the world. Sometimes it seems like sheer laziness to use rectangles instead of seeking out a more literal subject matter and other times the simplicity of the unencumbered shape seems to open up a depth of expression and meaning not available in more defined imagery. A rectangle is familiar and comfortable and jarring all in the same breath. It is stable, strong and subtle. It is a simple plane open to interpretation and interaction with whatever it frames or is surrounded by. And if nothing else, it is an invitation to whatever you make of it and whatever it reveals to you.

Sketch VIII

Computer Sketch