The Artifact Color Series, represents an expansion and focus on my painterly process and my ongoing studies involving the concept of ‘Phenomenal Transparency’, with opaque mixtures achieving the illusion of transparency in the medium of oil paint. They are inspired by Josef Alber’s ‘Homage to the Square’ series. These collages are created entirely with painted woodblock papers. At the end of a painting session in my studio, I have color mixtures left on my palette. For quite a while now I have been taking these mixtures and with a palette knife I have laid them onto woodblock papers.

The fascinating thing about having all of these mixtures of colors that are specific to my paintings is that I have grown more familiar with the types of color relationships that I am drawn to. I recognize certain moods in the color relationships and I can see the painting source that these mixtures are derived from. This imparts a foundational palette to these studies. They are not arbitrary or based on someone else’s notion of how color relates, or some academic of formulaic approach to color studies. They are the distillation of the optically observed mixtures from a very specific painting executed at a unique time formed by the seasons and local weather. This process feels almost like writing in a diary to me, personal and experience driven.

I have been working with the premise of creating paintings with specific color palettes for many years. For me, it is a working process that is endlessly fascinating. It is a product of where I find pleasure and challenge in seeing more than any single element that forms part of the work itself.

©Ginnie Gardiner, August 3rd, 2018