THE SELF-ISOLATION RESIDENCY 19th FEBRUARY 2021: DAY 327

New painting: "Beyond the Beyond."
Oil paint on plywood block, 150 x 150 mm

19, 20, 21: Finding a reason to paint, in search of the sublime. 19th February 2021.
Part 33: 'Interpretation, abstraction, illusion.
An Unsettling Appeal: Insearch of the Sublime.

Anthropomorphism, where to begin? Well, the portrait seems like the ideal place to me, although perhaps I should begin with a more general definition of the term. Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human characteristics to animals, gods or, as is usually the case in art, inanimate objects. Those characteristics do of course include things like personality and emotions, but for the purpose of this essay I will on the whole be talking about the way in which art objects reference the, physical, human form.

Some may perhaps argue that as a portrait is designed to specifically represent a person that it somehow goes beyond anthropomorphism, but in regard to the work of art the intent of anthropomorphism is virtually always specific to the piece and as such should not be ignored. This recognition of the human form should not be mistaken for any form of pareidolia when referenced to the artwork, this is not an imagined resemblance, it is a designated function of a deliberate composition, as always must be to truly be a piece of art. No happy accidents need apply.

Of course, there is always a starting point for the creative process, usually when producing a sculpture or a painting which may be considered as a portrait, even an abstract one, an early consideration of the human form is a large part of this. The sculptor for instance, will historically begin with a block of marble, that block, even before be draws out his first designs on it, will have a form of anthropomorphism in that the block will almost certainly have been order to have a bulk that mimics the human form in its dimensions. Think of it this way, consider the block of marble in regard to a coffin, the block is slightly taller, wider and deeper than the figure it contains, but its dimensions are still suggestive of the human form. This same, initial approach is taken by the painter.

To be continued...