Jake Wells
Southern Illinois University-Carbondale
Surfaces Within
Acrylic paint, magnolia leaves, L-brackets, on plywood
38" diameter x 3.5"
Painting is essentially the arrangement of color to give form to an idea. My application of paint highlights its physicality, and my work departs from the two dimensional format, becoming more like an object or sculpture. This new object makes the narrative tangible, and has more presence than an illusion created on a two dimensional surface.
Painting is a process of layering, accumulating, and removing material. I see parallels to this process on the surface of our planet, which is shaped by billions of years of slow deposition and erosion. I reference this process with thick layers of acrylic paint, sliced open, turned on edge, and arranged into a cross-section. All the layers are put on display, which allows the viewer to experience the piece as a whole, demonstrating that there's more than what's merely on the surface.