SusanWeir

 I have looked at the the interiors associated with finishes such as marble and antique wood and arrived in upperclass stately homes. This is great as an interior is far more that just a set of walls, it is is a platform for decoration and in this case in the true aristocratic home a platform for high art. In areal stately environment that art would be valuable and of historical significance. it would often comprise an eclectic mix of sculpture and painting; landscape, portraiture and still life. the cope for exploration and imagery therefore is extensive and suits my love of variety and interest in Art History..

With the MADA 1 looming to an end I am somewhat concerned about the consistency and clarity in what I am doing. As I am once again branching of into another area with my painting project I have decided to combine these ideas with the digital world. these two areas will be the interior and the images within the interior.

Interiors.

Jacqueline Hassink – 2000

Scanned from Cotton, C. (2004), The Photograph as Contemporary Art, World of Art Series; Thames and Hudson

( Above) Image of interior of stately home depicting great pattern, marble fireplace and landscape and portraiture.

Image of the Ufizzi Gallery Florence another environment which has similar physical characteristics. And much gilt framing.

Paintings

What really interests me in looking at painting collections for digital image inspiration is the certain ethereal quality that eludes them. I have always had a great admiration for the historical art worlds and to somehow contemporise this would be both enjoyable and technically – for me – challenging. I believe there are certain characteristic that create this effect and that it is not necessarily painting. It has often to do with light and texture – just like in antiquing one of the popular faux finishes. It is possible to create an aged look with modern technology and yet there is an odd irony in wishing to do so. For me this also links back to the faux techniques and questions why one strives to age things. of course it’s tied in with associations of value and success and perhaps social comfort, that which is familiar or understood. Theorists suggest that the abundance of possibilities and choice and inconsistent styles and indeed Postmodernism.

(Above) A chemical transfer print from a digital photograph, own work 2005.

I produced a series of landscape images from Meteora in Greece, by using certain chemical only the reds and black are extracted from the print and transferrd onto the paper. I was pleased with this imagery and felt they had a ‘Turner’ like atmospheric quality.

(Below) REMBRANDT, FLORA, 1654, Oil on canvas, 39/91.8cm, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Self Portrait.
This is the first in a series of images I hope to produce. It is purely an experiment in results.

If i am going to look at art work through history I will need to do some research. One of the advantages and yet inherent problems I may encounter in a stately home collection is the eclecticism. I have drawn up a generic timeline of art periods, so that as i loo and individual periods of art I can place them. This I hope will be useful when it comes to write up after the project is completed.

GENERIC ART HISTORY TIME LINE.

it might also an interesting idea to take on a faux family tree as these often co inside with collections. Allowing myself to be fully integrated into the upper class. There is commonly an anecdote to the acquiring of each piece and narrative might be a fun angle to exploit.

STUART FAMILY TREE.

www.mountstuart.com