The Library and Lamson Learning Commons has begun to offer displays of student art work. The first exhibit, located on both sides of The Commons Cafe, features the work of Rebecca McCormack ‘07, a senior Art major.
Rebecca describes her artwork entitled “162″ below.
There are a million ways to paint. Some paintings are more about what you are painting than how you are painting it. However, this group of 162 paintings is almost completely about process. During the spring semester of 2006, I chose to set a few rules for my process. I decided that each painting would be six inches square, on paper with acrylic paint. These choices allowed me to bring my work with me everywhere because it was small and acrylic paint dries fast.
After that, there were a million more choices to make. I painted almost everyday. Usually I would paint more than one square at a time. Some would start as just one color, then I would go back to them later—others stayed that way. I used string, leaves, plastic canvas and many other materials to change the marks I could make. Some pieces started out as six-inch squares. Others were cut down from larger pieces into my chosen size. In order to keep moving forward and make my work interesting, I needed to find new ways of manipulating the paint on the paper.
As I worked, people would look through the ones I had decided were finished. My favorite discovery was that everyone had a favorite. People sometimes liked the same one but for completely different reasons. There were ones that I didn’t care for, but I left them the way they were because someone really loved it. Even after 162 pieces, I still don’t know. . . . How much can be done using only paint on a six-inch square?
Would you like to display YOUR artistic efforts? For more information, contact Tamara White at twhite7@mail.plymouth.edu
