Chandelier Series
Freed Painting is about liberating paint from the canvas surface so it can exist in three-dimensional space. Slowly, as I evolve and progress with the process, paint is moving away from the wall, projecting itself further and further out into space with series like the Of Heaven and Earth Series and the Levels Series. Now, with the Chandelier Series, paint cuts all ties with the wall and exists in open space. The paintings of the Chandelier Series hang from the ceiling and are viewed in the round, 360 degrees of viewing.
The Chandelier Series combines innovation and beauty to produce paintings that have never existed before. The acrylic mediums render crystal like effects making the paintings sumptuous visual experiences. The ability to walk around each painting provides viewers with unprecedented access and opportunity to enjoy paintings in a new way.
I am reminded of Dale Chihuly’s glass chandeliers that he hung over a number of canals in Venice, Italy. The combination of brilliance and fragility stood out to me juxtaposed against the ancient architecture of Venice. My Chandelier paintings are more durable than Chihuly’s glasswork, but they possess the same glimmer and brilliance that dazzles the eye and ignites the imagination.
Chandelier #1
The Freed paintings of the Chandelier Series are like wing suited base jumpers, leaving the confines of the wall to attain greater freedom out in open space.
Chandelier #1 combines transparent gloss medium with transparent crimson and purple hues along with smatterings of orange and green to create a visual symphony of color and light that delights the eyes and sparks the imagination.
Hanging in open space I am reminded of the many crystal chandeliers I have seen in opulent hotels and historic buildings, drawing your eyes upward, commanding attention. Crystal chandeliers are audacious and expressive, asserting themselves on the space they inhabit. My Chandelier paintings possess that same energy. This is Freed painting at the height of its power.
Painting completed 3-15-22
Painting dimensions: H: 56” X W: 24” X D: 24”
Chandelier #2
I can’t believe it has been over a year since I produced my first Chandelier Freed painting. It was a joy returning to this format.
Chandelier #2 takes full advantage of the “stained glass” effect when light passes through it and the glossy transparent medium used to produce the piece duplicates the crystalline dazzle of glass making for an eye catching work of art.
I can see this piece hanging in the atrium of an ornate building. A painting of a whole new kind. Gracing the open space in which it resides.
Painting completed 8-5-23
Painting dimensions: H: 69″ X W: 25″ X D: 25″
Chandelier #3 Jellyfish
The descriptions for the first two Chandelier Series Freed paintings pretty much sums up what is happening with these paintings.
Please keep in mind that what you are looking at are paintings, paintings of a kind that have not existed or been seen before. It takes a new eye, a new mind set to appreciate these works of art. Just as humanity must shift its mind set to tackle/overcome the local, regional and global challenges facing us, so too a new thought process opens new doors of possibility and liberation.
Painting completed 9-29-23
Painting dimensions: H: 64” X W: 24” X D: 24”
Chandelier #4
I am excited to present my fourth Chandelier Series Freed painting. This piece is more free form compared to the previous three paintings in the series. Also, I went back to an original production method and combined it with my archival method to create a finished piece that will evolve over time. The painting is constructed of a lattice of reinforced strands with unreinforced strands draped on the structure. Where there are no contact points, the unreinforced strands will sag, droop and elongate, hopefully reaching the floor and accumulating there. This process will take about a year to fully manifest itself. I will post an image of it a year from now, in its mature state.
I have had a couple of gallery owners and directors refer me to artists like Olga de Amaral, Aiko Tezuka, Ko Kirk Yamihara and Faig Ahmed. This puzzles me because they are all textile artists, and I am a painter. It seems apparent that the point of my Freed paintings is being missed or not understood at all.
What you are looking at is Pollock without a canvas and in three dimensions. Additionally, it is transparent strands tinted with varying color densities and hues. It is Chihuly, but not in glass, rather. . . Paint. The same glimmer, radiance, and delicacy without fragility. No one seems to appreciate what is happening with my Freed paintings. “Painted string on a bar” is a comment I have heard. This simplistic assessment lacks vision and imagination. The reason my Freed paintings are difficult to digest, categorize, pigeonhole is the fact that they never existed before now. No one thought of such a thing and so no painting examples precedes it. This is truly new, and people don’t know what to do about it.
The Art World is presently focused on Identity (racial, sexual, gender). Few appreciate that the discipline of Fine Art Painting is currently having its own identity crisis. Freed paintings challenge the identity, the definition of what a painting can be. Freed painting is a departure from traditional “painting” methodology and presentation. Paint, liberated from the canvas surface, existing in three-dimensional space, asserting its own identity for the first time. It is a new Identity that no one knows what to make of.
THIS IS A PAINTING!
Freed painting is a new paradigm that expands and enhances the discipline of Fine Art Painting. Please give it the chance to be seen by the world. I believe it will change it.
Painting completed 10-14-23
Painting dimensions: H: 62″ X W: 24″ X D: 24″
