THE CONTAINED SPACE

Exegesis, Newcastle University School of Fine Art 2004

The purpose of the research was to show that the ‘pictorial space’ in a still life painting is a primary influence on the meaning of the still life objects in the painting and presents itself from the point of view as an object/space dialectic.

The still life is traditionally in the foreground of the picture. In addition we experience these still life objects that are the subject for the paintings also as real objects within a real space. This is the ‘proximal space’, as different to the space which is distant from us. The proximal space refers to the immediate space around us within which we move. As such, within this context, our awareness of the objects is informed not only by sight but also by all our senses and in particular, the sense of touch.
It is the interface between the pictorial painted space and the proximal 3D physical space that lies at the core of this research.

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