ART VENTI
As the sun crosses the sky penetrating the cosmos, reflecting and illuminating the atmosphere and then filtering through translucent veils of tissue crumpled in a box, it creates the complex interplay of light and shadow which constitutes the subject matter for Art Venti’s mysterious otherworldly pencil drawings. Ambiguity as to the delineations between subject and context, near or far, even negative and positive space evoke latent pre-birth memories of weightlessness in the womb where the mind first developed from a subconscious dreamscape into a sentient mentality and conscious awareness itself began. Taking the classical study of drapery to the next level Art Venti transforms the random dappling of diverted luminance into fantastic cloud caverns and castles underground, exploring the dimensions of physical space as a kind of aleatoric feng shui.
I like to experiment with shadow, light and depth in an environment that starts with a forest of tissues in a light box. The view in this box of translucent paper suggests landscape scenes that seem to move and change as the sun crosses the sky. If the inferred panorama is beguiling enough, the mind will move from the seen to the unseen and finally to what can only be a dream. Sketches of these moments are assembled and used as an elementary scaffold to begin what becomes elaborately constructed worlds drawn in color pencil. I begin with a light watercolor wash background. When they are complete, viewers often percieve them as paintings rather than drawings due to the intensity of the layers of color pencil.
The observer will have an opportunity to travel through random meaning to find his own personal significance.
Tissues are as humble and fragile as human lives, and living those lives crumples each into a unique form. Through death and tragedy, people clutch at tissues in a futile attempt to hold back a river of tears. Working as an artist is my strongest defense of our fragile existence. As I endeavor to leave my mark in the world around me, I am reminded that mortality is a powerful adversary to be counteracted with beauty.
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