Heidi Thompson
Land scape
CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW representation and abstraction find their balance in your work?
Everything you see is abstract. A tree, a flower, a face are compositions of abstract elements. To create a“ realistic” illusion you need to arrange abstract elements according to natural laws. These natural laws include aerial perspective, pattern, symmetry, organic forms, colour, size, movement, light and space. Because my goal is to create paintings that feel natural, I arrange abstract elements in accordance with these laws. For example, I will paint a light grey blue background which deepens into cobalt. A yellow light diffuses over the blue. Dark red shapes rise in front of this background. Presto! I have created something that appears“ real”.
In reality, nature is not made up of trees, clouds, flowers, mountains or“ things”. These things are visual symbols – conditioned seeing. Nature is comprised of abstractions – tangle of lines, random patterns, shadows, shapes, space, light and colour. Since childhood, we have been conditioned to think in terms of visual