Heidi Thompson
Land scape
CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW its surface with gesso and silica glass to create a texture . I use acrylic paint and start applying layers . I dribble , splatter and pour the paint while the canvas is lying flat . I tip the canvas and use gravity to pull the paint in different directions . I dry areas of the painting with a hairdryer and then apply more paint . When all the wet and dry layers are applied I spray the painting with the garden hose . Dry layers remain ; wet layers disappear leaving a patina . I do not paint gesturally with a brush . I do not want to show my “ hand signature ”. I like the work to feel anonymous , as if they happened without human interference . I like that the final painting reveals each change that happened during the process .
Change is one of the main themes of my work . Meditation has allowed me to experience Buddha ’ s essential teaching of impermanence . I feel my paintings are artefacts of change ; that they express Buddha ’ s observation of nature - that everything , animate or inanimate , is subject to change . " Decay is inherent in all component things ." The idea of change , decomposition , decay , dissolution , birth , rejuvenation and renewal are fundamental ideas to my art .
If you would like to see this process : https :// www . youtube . com / watch ? v = WV7cx mrIxWg
The brushstrokes that condense your visual vocabulary have a very ethereal quality . How do you view the concepts of the real and the imagined playing out within your works ?
I want to create illusions of space . I would like the viewer to walk into my paintings . Get lost behind the veils seeking what may be hidden . I hope to evoke in the viewer an experience of boundlessness , infinity and vastness . Space in a painting mirrors the space within me . Artist , Mark Tobey wrote , “ The dimension that counts for the creative person is the space he creates within himself . This inner space is closer to the infinite than the other , and it is the privilege of the balanced mind ... and the search for an equilibrium is essential - to be as aware of inner space as he is of outer space .”
Your abstract landscapes ignite joy and a profound feeling of harmony and peace and we like Inspiration Explosion for the way it successfully attempts to capture the physical feature of such wide place and at the same time leaves space for the spectators to replay the scenes in their own intimate lives , letting them become emotionally involved in what you are attempting to communicate . How do you conceive the visual unity for your works ? In particular , do you think that there is a central idea that connects all of your work ?
Light is central to my life and art . Without light there would be no life . No hope . No consciousness . Light shows us the way . While painting , I create illusions of light . Flooding the painting with warm light enhances its harmony and elicits feelings of joy and optimism . The old masters used light to unify a picture , create a focal point and infuse landscapes with atmospheric beauty , like William Turner . Buddha ’ s final words were , “ Be a light unto yourself .”