The following is a part of A Rolling Conversation on The Linda Matney site.
Linda Matney Gallery ~ Janice Hathaway A Rolling Conversation
I love working with color found a good opportunity to do so with the piece Invitation that has a bright orange acting as the sun. This was my response the 2019 Peculiar Mormryid 8 As Above, So Below: Surrealism and the Weather,
Initially I had no idea how to response concept “Is surrealism able to thrive as a weathervane” during this period of global warming and “adapting to new and shifting climates?” I recalled a photograph I had taken years earlier of a sliced orange sitting in icy snow and thought it might be a good place to start. I blended the snow above the orange into a cheerful bright blue sky.
The bottom was empty and I felt that there needed to be a human element added since the theme was about the response to global warming and the impact on civilization. While looking through my archive I found a photograph of people standing on The Waikiki “Wall” – an eight-foot tall pier-like structure that parallels the beach. Large waves were splashing into the back of the people giving the photograph a bright sparkling quality that reminded me of the snow. I pieced together parts of a photograph to create the row of people along the bottom edge. After I was finished I thought the orange was too dark and lacked detail. I set up studio lights and photographed a new orange that included water drops to make it glisten. I cut out the new orange and used a mask to replace the original orange sitting in the snow.
Creating these pieces require reflection as the concepts gradually unfold. The additions, revision and refinements are closely related to my early work as a printmaker and typically take around two to three months to complete.
