I recently painted the four 12″ by 12″ paintings, shown above, which is grouped as a set titled FourShadowing. I wanted to have only the most subtle of differences between the pieces as far as subject and form so that there was a repetitive quality as your took them in, almost like the recurring chorus of a song. The variations of colors acts as a sort of verse.
I try to not think to0 much about this, not wanting to contrive the outcome in a way that saps all of the energy from the work. Just let the elements do their thing, let their voices be heard over the repeating imagery of the four pieces.
I saw the video below, a simple explanation of how we are affected by musical repetition based on the work and book, On Repeat: How Music Plays the Mind , of cognitive scientist Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis, and it instantly made me wonder if repetition played the same part in visual art. I believe that the personal style of an artist is a form of repetition, that the more familiar a viewer is with the work of an artist, the easier they find themselves able to engage with it. The repeating nature of their style and the body of work reinforces and reassures.
Of course, I am talking off the top of my head right now and I might read this later and ask myself what the hell I was talking about. It’s a grain of a thought at the moment.
Anyway, take a few minutes to watch the video and think about it on your own:
Redtree Times 