Michelle Weinstein Essay
#7 John Scane (Visiting Painting)
#8 Michelle Weinstein (Response Painting)
The first impression I got from the seed painting, was a depiction of the birth of stars, the beginning of the universe when different types of matter became drawn to each other through their different densities, and magnetism. The center of the painting had both lightness and weight because of the semi-amorphous melting hot white form in the center of the painting. It took me a couple of days to decide whether to represent the work diagrammatically in terms of the relationship between the colors and sizes – a diagram of attractions and color of the newly born matter, or to bring elemental stew one step farther in its phase of development. I decided to give the different elements a new motion, as if the formation is part of a narrative and it is my place to show the next step in the process of the newly born universe.
After spending more time with the seed painting another striking factor was the color spectrum; each color of the spectrum was clearly represented. It now looked to me not as if it was a painting of the birth of the universe, but rather the birth of color. The honest reaction was to bring forward the idea of the color spectrum very clearly. I also thought it would be fun to bring the birth of universe and color to the next stage in its evolution, to integrate my first impressions of the seed painting. I wanted to create forms that were reminiscent of the first squirmings of life. I was conflicted at the thought of creating three dimensional forms on the canvas; mostly I was worried about structural problems. I knew I wanted the piece to hover between an analysis (all of the discoveries about the birth of the universe as we know them today were discovered in a laboratory, and I wanted this implied visually) while creating forms that were biomorphic, squiggly, wriggling with beginnings. After listing the possibilities and making some mock sketches I decided to make small clay cup like forms containing the spectrum in the form of dyed string. The clean graph paper ground implies an analysis. The clay cups painted white looked a bit like barnacles, or some other early life form, as well as being rough mortars (as in mortar and pestles, where painters used to grind their pigments).