"MOMA's Vertigo" Detail
After not painting for some length of time, I find my hand and mind are gripped in tightness and focused on doing the best I can. In the throes of painting daily, the looseness takes over and the concern for doing well takes a backseat to experimenting. This painting certainly would take the award for concern and tightness . . . . .but I could not help myself! It was what I had seen and how it reverberated and rattled in my mind for days after seeing it that so convinced me it was worth the effort. And there was substantial effort to make this baby fly . . .believe me!
The vision was of the floor on the ground floor of the NY Museum of Modern Art (MOMA). These colored stripes had been installed on the floor via tape of varying widths and in nonrepeating sequences of hue. Standing on the floor and feeling my eyes jangle about was one thing . . . . . .but to view that same place from two stories had near delirious effects !! It was both dizzying and spectacular . . . .and thus the title, "MOMA's Vertigo."
Yes, anal would be a description of the artist's temperament while painting this piece. Parallels, angles, sequences, sizes, directions could all be thrown off by even the slightest error . . .and then it would compound and multiply! So, one line at a time was painted with ultimate care using every masking and shielding technique I could muster to insure freshness and purity of color. Shadows were used to, in part, set up the composition, while the jutting direction changes helped to guide the eye to the wanted focal point. This piece has been the most cautious and mind bending watercolor I have ever painted. It has taken exactly three weeks of daily concentration and effort. Was it worth it?
