Donna Geist: Heading Out
Artist(s):
Title:
- Heading Out
Exhibition:
Creation Year:
- 1997
Medium:
- Mixed media
Size:
- 24" x 30" x 6"
Category:
Keywords:
Artist Statement:
One day, while rummaging through boxes being thrown out by a neighbor, I found a stack of old discarded computer boards. I was intrigued by the detail, shapes, and forms of the circuitry. In my mind, circuits and wires became a city in motion. This is where the basic concept for Heading Out was formed. Not only would the circuit boards add interesting features and textures to the canvas, but would also help to incorporate three-dimensionality.
As in all of my paintings, Heading Out was an experiment into the realms of my imagination. With this particular piece, I took my basic skill as an impressionistic artist and combined surrealism and animation. But like real functioning computers, I wanted to obtain a sense of kinetic flow and movement that would give the painting life. I combined cartoon-like features with city life, then brought the highway from the city itself, first descending and then forwarding, with an auto-mobile actually coming up and off the canvas.
When I work on a piece, I try to capture a certain mood or feeling, and I want more than painterly strokes on the canvas. The combination of texture and three-dimensionality in mixed media painting helps me to achieve this.
