2021
Aerosol and hand-cut vinyl on disused signage
78 x 70 x 49cm
DAMN that took longer than expected!!
I’ve had these disused signage letters for many years; they were just waiting for the right time and inspiration to be used. I received them along with quite a few other bits and pieces from a signwriter. I don’t know where they came from or even what word they originally spelt.
I finally decided to tackle a concept I was curious to explore; the idea of extreme visual busyness and detail combined with a solid singular colour in one piece. So, I entwined the large acrylic letters trying to confuse from their original forms and placed them on 2 disused aluminium composite letters. Visually and mentally can the brain see the whole piece? Or is it too much to take in – solid colour, extreme detail and letter forms? It’s up to the viewer to decide.
While making the piece I imagined that I was quickly dipping the sculpture into a large vat of ‘pattern paint’ with the paint also splashing up onto it in places. The base has 2 splodges of the continued pattern with a highlight ripple of gold at the pointed end, while it sits on soft pastel pink.
The acrylic letters have been glued and dowel joined together then sprayed using a gradation of 3 colours from navy, medium blue to shocking blue. Then the letters were screwed into the painted base. Vinyl circles were hand-cut to form various layers of patterns, which blend to the solid colour halfway up the structure.