To start creating I began with what I knew and what felt comfortable. I chose the same artists who I had been using before, as well as Gauguin and continued my investigation into uncovering these images that had this strange similarity to objects found in still life paintings. It quickly became relevant to ask why I was using particular artists to base my work upon. Although I hadn't though much about it it was obvious that I was choosing paintings that were moving away from realism. This initial set of artists had all been using paint to shift their practice away from a realistic image.
I began to realise how important this was to the work. Van Gough, Gauguin, Cezanne and Matisse were all invested in post impressionism and fauvism. These were all movements that had manifested since the advent of photography. Painting was no longer required to resemble a perfect accurate image. To counter what could have been detrimental to painting, artists began exploring ways expression could be applied.
In contemporary times we have the internet, and a trove of images that have become completely meaningless and wholly expressionless. I feel that it is relevant to argue that the internet is having equally detrimental effects on photography. It is fundamental to find creative solutions to revitalise the photographic image as well as the images that have become lost online.
I already have three artists but feel that I need to begin exploring more painters associated with the post impression movement. It is all very well saying I will chose these artists but this work becomes possible by choosing appropriate paintings. Not every painting can be recreated with such great effect and I am starting to realise what sort of still life paintings create the best digital collage. I am continuing to look through a whole host of post impressionist still life in order to find the right paintings. This means disregarding the artist in favour of the paintings they have created.
The other battle that I am having is what to do with the original image. How important is it to show the original painting? I feel that this is very much my own work, despite borrowing and appropriating from a variety of sources. Yet when I am showing my images along side images taken of the original paintings, the reaction of the audience seems fair greater than with out. This leaves me in a slightly precarious situation as I am not necessarily that keen on showing the original as a poor quality jpeg that I have taken from the internet.
I need to consider how vital an image of the original painting is to my work. On the one hand it acts as a revelation, showing how accurate and precise my own image is to the original. With out the seeing the original image I could be doing anything with my work and just claiming it to be a copy. Despite this we now live in a world where instant access to images possible, with the correct titling of the image the audience could use their own smart device to reveal the image itself. I also feel that creating an image that is as accurate possible and knowing this myself is enough, even though it may take a keen audience member to be able to realise it I think as long as the work is there then its exactness can remain slightly hidden
I guess in an ideal world my own collages would be exhibited in the same room or same gallery as the original paintings. I think that this would really challenge the audience into deciphering each image and having a very powerful relationship between the two works of art. Yet this is not a very practical solution to my problem.
After properly considering how this images should be shown I do feel that they are strong enough to exist on their own. These are intriguing images and do ask a lot of questions, but after experimenting with displaying my collages alone, it is clear that they are not dependant on their painted counterparts. The relationships have been built into the work, everyone of these objects is being sourced in relation with the painted object. There is shared existence between the objects that were on the tables of these painters and the online images of objects that have a likeness. The online likenesses never had any artistic intention or any expressive qualities. They remain purely representational. I feel that post impressionist still life painting is much more that representational and my own collages find themselves in this strange place trapped between representation, fiction, expression and a space where online meets offline.