Since June all the new work has been built around a square format. Up until now, I have always favored rectangles, both landscape and portrait orientations. Usually the paintings are built on the 3 to 4 ratio that dates back to Pythagoras. The newer square format gives equal weight to each side and does not dictate composition, which rectangles seem to enforce. It may be my imagination, but the square “seems” sleeker, modern and human made. There is a symmetrical perfection to the square that is unavoidable.
Keeping the notion of the square, my compositions are asymmetrical and lean left or right. Lots of angles. The perfection of the square makes me want to destroy it’s visual boundary that is so dominant. There is also a constant conscious struggle to keep the primary compositional element out of the center. Just too obvious and boring. Of course these are all mental slogs and rules that I have perpetuated with absolutely no real justification but my own. It will be interesting to see how long the square lasts in the work. I suspect it may be awhile.