Colouring Jouissance
Judith Cain
School of Contemporary Art & Graphic Design, Leeds Metropolitan University, Calverley Street, Leeds LS1 3HE, UK
Introduction
Judith Cain's work, for me, is a pure joy (writes Jenny Tennant Jackson) that holds within it an unsettling awareness that disallows a passive response to seeing nature. The key to evoking these somewhat contradictory factors is, I think, the stunning use of colour, lightness of touch, and depth of research. In exotic forms, the floral colours pool: the strangeness melts into beauty with a lightness of touch that belies the microscopic observation of botany. The artist travels extensively. Latour-Marliac, for example, is the source for the water lilies: a source that, interestingly, Monet used. But these paintings are of a different nature; same inspiration, different take. Whereas Monet took delight in the mingling of subject and background on the picture plane, these contemporary works maintain the distinction through contrast. Fundamental to Judith Cain’s art is the ground below the surface. Translucent layers built up over time are continually sanded-back until the ground of spectacular depth emerges; paint on paint. Nature experimentally and experientially is challenged by a geometric reflection of South American architecture or tessellation, in squares of water, or of glass, perhaps. And above it all the flowers and tendrils are lightly placed, enticing the viewer to wonder – and enjoy.
Images
These can be viewed either as:
- Individual images (via thumbnails on the left) or as a
- Slideshow
In the slideshow click on the right-hand side of the images (or press keyboard N) to view the next image in the gallery, or click on the left-hand side of the images (or press keyboard P) to view the previous image.
A gallery catalogue (33 KB) can also be downloaded in PDF format.
Citation
Judith Cain (2008). New Work. Colour: Design & Creativity (2) 8.
URL: http://www.colour-journal.org/2008/2/8/
