The Subconscious Power concept aims to get in a sort of flow, work in a high pace and then create a very complex composition that still shows clear harmony. The idea is to shut down my rational filters; little voices in my brain that tell me to stop, not take a risk of ruining what has already been made, go for simple compositions, reduce the number of colors, etc.
Until now I worked with specific mixes of acrylic paint, medium and water; on a wet surface in order to force myself to create large strokes, work rapidly and accept to let go of rational control, the desire to directly create an aestetic composition.
At the same time I had been working on large amounts of drawings for the Creative Spam project where I post (until now close to 200) drawings in Amsterdam for anyone to find and take home. With these drawings I have also been building my 'vocabulary of shapes and colors', which has become now part of the natural language I use when painting.
And for the La Valise Noire concept I created several drawings based on experiences, darker thoughts and sending it then in the black suitcase.
For a long time I have been a bit hesitant to use oil paint again. In general it is quite difficult to work with (meaning I did not yet fully master it to use it completely organically) and therefore would be difficult to get in a sort of flow when I would still be thinking of 'how to actually put the paint on the linen'.
Recently I decided to engage with the challenge; I bought some large surfaces to paint on, completed again my set of oil paint colors, and brought them to my apartment in Paris where there is lots of light. And one morning I just started; I had prepared how I would work, installed all materials and then just followed my brush. I introduced one break to go out for a walk and then came back. It lead to the painting you see attached.
So, am I happy with the result ? Not sure yet, will make a few more of these pqintings and see how it works. Not even sure if it is ready actually; which is part of the regulare torture an artist faces... Had some very positive feedback from friends who visited, but some others made no comment at all...well in the end the only reference for whether this is the right art work is...me. As my friend and much more experienced artist Frederik beerbaum said to me some time ago: "95 % of the people have no clue what you are doing, so only you can be the reference of what is good". Well, I'm not sure yet, guess we will see in the coming weeks.
Previous articles on Subconscious Power:
The way of making the art works
Freezing experiment in the snow