Growth oil on canvas 190x400
Mikko Lyytinen
Growth
oil on canvas
190x400cm - 74.8x157.6 inches
2011
Lahti Art Museum collection
This is my degree work from Lahti Institute of Fine Arts, displayed in our final exhibition here at Lahti Art Museum in 2011.
Growth was a theme i had been working on for some while. This may be repetition for some of you as i've mentioned it in previous posts.
The title refers to few things to the political rhetoric at the time, demanding for growth. There was something about this that annoy me greatly, when something is repeated over and over again like a mantra. It seems to become the ultimate value, without need for any consideration or questioning. Meanwhile there was more and more push for austerity measures, cutting on education and healthcare. Notably our faculty was on the line, and eventually it ended up being shutdown in 2016.
The dogmatism was what i wanted to question. As to the quality of growth, there was also the issue of my grandfather passing away from cancer the previous year. There had been other events before that;my other grandfather dying from it years before and my mother having survived hers. I had some health issues of my own which were beginning to show that had worried me.
The issue called for a large format. I had not worked on a painting this big before so it was admittely intimidating, if to reflect the themes. I responded to it with humor and gadgets. I bought a telescopic shaft with some brushes and a roller, normally used painting walls and a pair of waterguns and even a good old supersoaker. With these i could tackle the task at hand. I filled the tanks with turpentine and paint and sprayed away. The long brush was used not unlike weapon as well. Small details from the world of my drawings were added with a tiny brush for counter effect.
Colors i went from something obnoxious and bright yellow and red that would settle down in the smaller details. On the left ia brick wall of blue monitor/tv reflections. There is the passive consumer of entertainment but there is chance for real growth with the availabilty of information.
That's some fo my thoughts on the work. Tell me what you think about it, there may be something different alltogether and that is interesting.
Here are some pictures of the work in process:
Sorry about your grandfather! I appreciate the patience you had to complete something this big. It looks intriguing!
Thank you. It's been many years now, Patiences was challenged indeed, haven't been working quite this big since :)
The worst part is storage afterwards. Make sure you sell it :)
Yeah, I donated this one to the museum. But I will sell the next one :P
:)
Re-steemed per my re-steem initiative. Great art!!!! :)
great, thank you very much :)
Very nice. I like the images of you making the painting too. The process and evolution fascinates me with art.
Thank you. It is very interesting to see things evolve for me as well and its something i like to bring out in my works as well. I often leave layers visible down to the canvas for just that, so there is a history to trace back
How would one know if a smear is out of place?
a smears place is where it happens to be.
But generally you have to see what looks good to you. There are some guidelines like rule of thirds or golden ratio that can be of help if you are trying to come up with composition that is pleasing to the eye. There are also considerations like color and shape and size and the relation to other elements.