The secret gallery’s blog

Work in progress, “Organised Chaos”, mixed media by Marianne Slevin 2010

This is a photograph of a painting that I was just working on. I started it about a month ago and left it, not really knowing where to go next with it. I started it using pencil and pigment on cardboard. There was a drawing of branchlike lines and root-like lines  beneath, our children had drawn something on it (they were allowed!) Then it was painted around the drawing with pigment.

I had been thinking about my art and how maybe I could combine many of the different aspects of the ways I work in one piece, such as working on the idea of  mycelium but ion a freer way that my be more dreamlike and open to include other interests and intuitions. Content and focus can be great but sometimes you got to let go a bit and be more spontaneous and in the moment. I suddenly realized that I was like a painting I started about 14 years ago, but taking it to new places. It was like revisiting a moment in time, but with a different perspective. Now looking around the studio it does kind of knit much of the work together, like a missing link, maybe.

I have started reading about the chaos theory, it is early days yet to say how much or little it relates to my work, but so far it is fascinating and I am also fascinated with quantum physics, particularly an experiment where they discovered atoms behave differently when they are being observed. The one experiment I found is  called Dr. Quantum Double split experiment.  This really leads me to all sorts of wonderings! So what we see is actually changed by us seeing it. Are paintings and other Visual Art changed by those who view it? This is a theory James suggested being a possible reason for certain art works becoming exceptionally famous compared with other works of a similar quality. We noticed that when people came into the gallery a really liked a certain painting, often the next few visitors would also comment on that painting, had the previous viewers actually changed and energized the atoms in the painting by viewing it? And if viewing a piece of art with a positive feeling adds to it and if viewing it with a negative feeling takes from it? Maybe we will do this experiment one day, as James suggested.  Has anyone any thoughts or experiences on this, I would really like to learn more about it, so please feel free to voice them.