Predictable spatial definition has involved the creation of fragmented space, ambiguous space, flat space, shallow space, deep space which has been of interest to me since my last body of work in the late 90s. Earlier on, I had been working on a body of work that I referred to as the “White Series”. I had envisioned that that the isolated, often still life object, that occupied space on many small panels and canvases would at one point be viewed cohesively and as one body of work in which certain visual relationship(s) would be made. This did not happen. As a result, I began dividing the space in some of my paintings, and created what might possibly appear as disparate subject matter occupying the same plane, but divided non-the-less. It is my attempt to establish a relationship of sorts among subject matter. The relationship lies not only in the obvious depiction of objects, but within the varying depth of spaces.
Scapes, as traditional genre, have often been captured on a grand scale. My paintings are often encapsulated onto small panels where the amplitude of a sky, sea or land is confined. In the paintings in which the visual space is clearly divided, I employ contrast between shallow, immediate foreground and an unattainable distance beyond. In paintings where the space is no longer divided, the subject matter is more direct. My interest in using color to create light in my work began to develop some time before I discerned who the American mid-19th century Luminist painters were. I still admire the works by Heade, Bierdstadt, and Inness. My intentions differ in that I do not seek a religious or spiritual content in my work, but rather to create work that is introspective and metaphorical, incorporating that which is perceivable as well as imagined.
I began some of the paintings through the creation of experimental drawings, which are progressively becoming more abstract. Unlike my paintings, these drawings are often void of detail, and react more like shapes or mass, positive and negative shapes. In turn, the paintings may inspire the drawings. The seascapes and skyscapes are inspired by direct experience with my environment, which I witnessed as I traveled to different parts of the country. I document what I see through drawings, photographs, and research the scientific information on weather phenomena, creatures, and anatomy. Some of the Latin titles found in my paintings are direct descriptions found in taxonomy books that identify and describe every living being such as flora and fauna, insects, birds, amphibians, and mammals.
The paintings that refer to storms, whether approaching, passing or other, are metaphors that I associate with the passage and quality of time. When paired with insects or birds, they become narrative or allegorical. Prelude implies the anticipation of an unforeseen event; the bird, a whippoorwill, which is known for its illusive noturnal nature appears on the picture plane without much contrast and blends into the grey space. Golondrinas is intended to be an uplifting painting that provides some comfort within the underlying fantastic or ominous quality that some of the other paintings possess. While working on a body of work, I keep a number of paintings alive through the very end--that is, I work on various paintings through the completion of the body. What I find most valuable about working in this manner is that the work informs or cross-pollinates each other.
-- Blanca Lopez
P.O. Box 267870, Chicago, IL 60626 / Ph 312.654.0144 / byronroche@sbcglobal.net