Untitled 1984 no.2

Untitled 1984 no.2 was painted near the end of a roughly 17-year period of abstraction between 1970/71 and 1987. My general focus in the painting, as in all my work, is the idea of change and transformation. In the abstract work this focus centers on the notion that everything in the universe is constantly changing and as such the identity of everything is transitory.

These ideas are conveyed through graphic forms representing movement, incompleteness, disintegration and destruction. I see the forms as being in flux with their identities open to interpretation by the viewer. Change then is represented not only through the depiction of the transformation of forms, but also by the multiplicity of their interpretations and their shifting identities.

To portray change and transformation in Untitled 1984 no.2 I used a dynamic and densely populated composition full of activity and implied movement. This type of composition was typical in my work during this period. In them I do not have a horizon line or ground/sky plane to give the viewer a feeling of stability or a sense of what is up and down. Instead I have created a floating ungrounded space with a complex interwoven network of forms and relationships.

In Untitled 1984 no.2 the implied movement can be seen in many of the forms that arc through, hang down, and populate the composition. For example, the spinning movement of the spindly eight-spoked wheel in the right foreground; the giant umbrella-like form piercing the left side of the composition and dominating its lower section; and the dark blue triangular form with its straightened linear extensions that enters the composition from the center top, are just a few forms that add to the dynamic movement in the painting.

The forms in Untitled 1984 no.2 also have a high degree of individuality that border on recognizability but lack specific identities. For instance, note the diversity of shapes, textures and colors of the forms throughout the composition – the solid form and gentle angles of the aforementioned umbrella shape; the linear spokes of the wheel and how they contrast with the spiny and jagged twists and turns of the bluish-white thorns that entangle them; the organic nature of the pincushion and intestine-like form in the lower right; and the semicircular gray hair or straw-like bundles that starts two thirds up the right-hand edge of the canvas and ends in the extreme lower right corner. These are just a few examples of the forms that weave their way through the composition, creating a rich feast for the eye.

Lastly, because Untitled 1984 no.2 was done late in my abstract period, it contains a few early symbolic references that have subsequently been used more extensively in the representational work that followed. These can be seen most notably in the three strands of the thorns (crown-of-thorns) that are symbolic of the trinity, as well as representing our entanglement with nature; the eight-spoked wheel alludes to the Buddhist Wheel of Life or the Dharma Wheel; and the multiple intestine-like forms depicted throughout the painting reference human life and suffering.

Together the movement, rhythm, and diversity of forms, as well as the spatial dynamics in Untitled 1984 no.2, all lead to a visual complexity that provides the viewer with an engaging experience. An experience that I hope will lead to endless hours of discovery and enjoyment.

- Brian Mains, May 2020