THE SELF-ISOLATION RESIDENCY 26th FEBRUARY 2021: DAY 334

New work in progress. Working title: "Uncertain things."
Oil paint on canvas, 610 x 610 mm.

19, 20, 21: Finding a reason to paint, in search of the sublime. 26th February 2021.
Part 37: 'Interpretation, abstraction, illusion.
An Unsettling Appeal: Insearch of the Sublime.

Previously in this text I have referred to the painter’s portrait in terms of it being ‘a window into a world through which a snapshot of their subject may be observed’. Now that we have established the placement of the sitter in regard to this window, let us now begin to consider what else is visible through the aperture; what I have referred to as the ‘extended context,’ and how the painting may be utilising it.

The figure, adorned in its chosen finery, is obviously the centre of our attention but what else is going on in the enclosure that we perceive around it? Is the book on which the subjects hand rests just a random selection plucked from Amazon, or is there more significance to its inclusion? And what about the astronomical globe that catches our eye of the shelf over the sitter’s right shoulder? Did that just happen to be there gathering dust when the sitter casually reclined in this particular chair, in this particular position to have their portrait painted? Of course not, these are deliberate inclusions and their presence has been contrived to inform us more about the essence of the paintings subject.

Our sitter of course is not ‘casually reclined in this particular chair, in this particular position to have their portrait painted’, this is a carefully selected chair place in a specific location to take the best advantage of both the light and the surroundings. That book is probably a philosophical text which purports tells us two things about the focus of the painting, firstly that he reads and secondly that he thinks. Likewise, the globe’s inclusion may tell us two or even three more details about our subject, it suggests that they have probably travelled, the orientation of the globes may even suggest where they might have travelled. Thirdly just the fact that it is a globe potentially suggests that the sitter appreciates that the world is round and not flat, a serious consideration historically and one that can be used to infer that they are educated.

To be continued...