An enormous number of the artists I most admire tended to produce really small works of art. I will always remember being shocked at how relatively small the majority of Jan Vermeer’s paintings were when I finally encountered them first hand.
The majority of erotic art has also been traditionally small in size and often made with relatively ephemeral media, drawings, watercolours, the ubiquitous ‘etchings’ (perhaps from Paris!) as in ‘Wouldn’t you like to come upstairs and view some of my etchings my dear?. In short work which can be hurriedly deposited in a portfolio and thrust into a drawer or perhaps even shoved under the occasional bed, away from prying eyes.
As a response contrarian to this, my paintings have often been rather large. Whilst simultaneously intended for private spaces with enough wall space to accommodate decent size paintings. Brave would be the person for whom most of these things would be deemed suitable for a living of dining room. But, it takes all sorts… I like to think they make a statement wherever they a placed.
In recent times, it has occurred to me that sometimes, just sometimes, the concentration of time and energy into the manufacture of a single small object might not be utterly misplaced. The composition alone requires a different kind of thinking. Things must be more clearly defined. The distribution of negative and positive space, more carefully thought through. In short, less opportunities to cheat are available. Surface, of course, also plays a more important role. The deteriorating capacity of middle aged eyesight must also be considered and occasionally the adoption of more powerful lenses becomes necessary.
When his particular, by my usual standards; ‘trifle’ is stable and dry and appropriately protected with a couple of layers of varnish, I will be offering it for sale either on my Saatchiart, or at two thirds of the price on here, (if ever, that is) I work out the complexities of setting up the so called ‘e-Commerce’ annex of this webspace. Lets see what happens….
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