Confluence

Confluence, a moving painting was created for an exhibition in the Shoreditch Town Hall, an old basement with minimum lighting. The piece consisted of three painted panels of Perspex. A motor moved two of the three panels at defined intervals to illustrate the physical position of each panel in relation to the others. In corresponding intervals the panels would rest side by side as three separate pieces and then behind one another as a single piece. The piece was lit from behind. The piece challenged the reality of the third dimension through juxtaposition of real space with the illusory space created in paintings. This was achieved by exploring the idea of a painting as a moving object. This idea gave the project a sculptural quality that removed the spatial limitations of a canvas’s flat surface. The movement of the panels presented the reality that an orange panel was the furthest from the viewer and periodically moved behind a black circle on a panel in front of it. However, when the panels were behind one another and viewed as a single piece, the eye interpreted the orange panel to be in front of the black circle.