AN EMBER IN THE PAINT: A STRATEGIC APPROACH TO AFFECT AND TIME.
My project investigated the possibility of embedding something into a painting while it was being made so that, at some future point, it would spark into life and have an impact on the viewer – an ember placed, quite deliberately, left lying dormant until the right circumstances configured to spark it into life. It involved an exploration of two notions: slow art and affect. I considered the artists in my community of practice and revisited their work mindful of these notions and interrogated my own practice using concepts of slow art and affect thinking to create works strategically designed to release blocks of sensation at a later time.
Through this project I learnt that my method of production, being inherently slow, has a very calming effect on me. It forces me to live in the moment and be truly present. By providing just the right amount of challenge it allows me to enter, what has been described as a ‘flow state’. This provides me with real value, that I can feel, and the realisation is a significant outcome for me personally from the project.
I am a painter whose minimalist and understated paintings explore the notion of representing the unrepresentable in paint.
Through painting I aim to create a sustained experience for the viewer, one that will slow down the viewer experience – hold the audience in front of the work and resonate after they have moved away.
instagram: @traceyjones42
