Digital Commons @ Colby

Title

Painting meditation on the human form

Author (Your Name)

Hillary Ellen Kane, Colby College

Date of Award

1997

Document Type

Senior Scholars Paper (Open Access)

Department

Colby College. Art Dept.

Advisor(s)

Engman, Bevin L.

Second Advisor

Harriett Matthews

Third Advisor

Michael Marlais

Abstract

The arching limb of a tree defined a periphery of space from which the gentle curve of a sleeping figure arose in my mind, barely emerging from the surrounding atmosphere (fig. 1). This painting, painted in the fall of 1995, marked my initial interest in the human figure as a subject of formidable intrigue, challenge and inspiration. The human form, by its immediate relationship to a human audience, posed a source of emotive expression and psychological introspection that I felt could strike a resonant cord -in the sensitivity of the viewers. Admiringly poring over the works of Kathe Kollowitz, Gustav Klimt, and Vincent van Gogh, I experienced the psychological evocation of emotion of which works of art were capable. In proposing an extended study of the figure, I was grasping for the impact of universal human experience that I perceived in the paintings of so many great artists working in the figurative tradition.

In retrospect, my initial explanations of the capacity of a painting to evoke responsive feeling have shifted entirely. I had presumed that visceral emotion in figurative painting could be projected by focusing on a series of canvases, each embodying a single sentiment. I had choreographed the figure as if I could evince an emotion by its literal translation into an illustrative, archetypal gesture that functioned separately from the act of painting itself. I had not yet realized the distinction between looking and reacting to a subject as psychologically charged as the human body and actually perceiving that subject as one element within a defining atmosphere. Reflecting upon my development, the formal aspects of my exploration in oil paint have proved to be the greater focus of my study. While the figure is a part of a grand tradition, it has become more a point of departure for me. The physical technique of painting has instead far overshadowed my preliminary, more illustrative conceptual approach.

An analysis of my evolution in intent and approach to painting the figure recognizes that each painting pursues a range of technical avenues. Indeed, the considerations of figural treatment, composition, physical technique, color modulation and the manipulation of light, occur simultaneously in any given canvas. Although for clarity I have traced each formal dimension separately in the collective body of work, they remain inseparable, and to a great extent have been subconscious achievements that I recognize and distinguish as independent only in reflection.

Keywords

Human figure in art, Painting

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