Mixed Media Experiments

Aux Abois

"Aux Abois" ("At Bay" in English) was my first exploration of the use of watercolour in a mixed media experiment.

My wife, Anne-Marie, bravely agreed to pose for photos in a bramble thicket, near the Cabane Vauban of Champeaux. Incidentally, this site had previously inspired painters such as Émile Dardoize, Edmond Debon and Louis Valtat (amongst others), and was later to become part of a circuit called "La vallée de Peintres de Carolles."

To accomplish the art work, the mixed media materials that were chosen were watercolour for the painting (on rough cotton paper), plexiglass for the transparent box frame, thorned branches (cut from the thicket in-situ), and last but not least, a shred of white satin.

Intending to create a special interaction with the viewer, I particularly wanted to suggest 3D space and time:

In the picture, the viewer can see that a fearful girl is attempting to hide herself in a thorn thicket. A shred of white satin, hanging from the thorns, shows that she has entered the painting from the outside, and that she has torn her dress while doing so. Recent and present times are thus both represented, and by watching the girl in her plight, the viewer unintentionally becomes an actor or actress of the scene!

Aux Abois
Mixed media (watercolour, plexiglass, thorn branches and a shred of white satin),
52.5 x 52.5 x 16.5 cms, signed John Walkington and dated 1983. Private Collection.

Impact

"Impact" was my second exploration of the utilisation of watercolour in a mixed media experiment.

Having found an old four pane wooden window that had been abandoned on a demolition site, I thought that it would make an original picture frame. The four panes would need separate watercolour paintings, but these could be imagined as giving partial views of a same subject, just as they would have done in their initial setting.

My brother in law, Jean-Pierre Cougnot, kindly agreed to pose for the scene that I imagined. I wanted to paint someone hitting the top-left window pane with their fist, and wished to "freeze" the moment when that pane would be breaking into pieces. This last idea was easier said than done, but my wife Anne-Marie suggested a solution that proved to be practical and effective.

To accomplish the art work, the mixed media materials that were finally chosen, were therefore watercolour for the paintings (on rough cotton paper), a four pane wooden window frame, and last but not least, self-adhesive transparent film to cover the glazing and fix the breaking glass.

Intending to create a special interaction with the viewer, I particularly wanted to suggest 3D space and time:

In the window frame, the viewer can see that an aggressive man is attempting to break in from a narrow external brick-walled alley, and that he is smashing one of the panes with his fist. The splinters of broken glazing, that are bulging towards the viewer, indicate that he or she is in a place where time is "frozen." But by watching the intruder breaking in, the viewer unintentionally becomes a potential victim of the scene!

Impact
Mixed media (watercolour, window frame and glazing with transparent film protection),
80 x 55 x 2.5 cms, signed John Walkington and dated 1983. Private Collection.

Projection

"Projection" was my third exploration of the use of watercolour in a mixed media experiment.

This time I wanted to convey a sense of movement, while once again attempting to make the viewer participate in the artwork. I thought it would be amusing to create a painting of a cinema projection, and somehow embed a mirror to represent the screen. The last idea was quite complicated to implement, and after some reflection (excuse the pun) I decided the best way round the problem would be to use the mirror as glazing for the whole picture frame, and completely remove its rear silvering, except where it would serve as the screen. A final touch would be necessary in order to soften any reflections other than those on the screen, and this could be achieved by applying transparent film over the surrounding glazing.

To accomplish the art work, the mixed media materials that were finally chosen, were therefore watercolour for the painting (on rough cotton paper), a mirror of the same size as the painting (with its silvering totally removed, except where it would serve as the screen), and last but not least, self-adhesive transparent film to soften the reflections on the surrounding glazing.

In the final painting, the viewer can observe that he or she is standing behind several rows of seated spectators in a darkened cinema. The contrastingly bright screen displays an animated view of another space (somewhere outside the cinema), in which he or she is standing: Therefore, by simply looking at the big screen, the viewer not only becomes the film director, but also an intermittent actor (or actress) of the projection!

Projection
Mixed media (watercolour, mirror with modified silvering, and anti-reflection film applied over the non-mirror surface),
44 x 61 x 1.5 cms, signed William Walkington and dated 1989. Private Collection.