What is a Painting?

In Defiance

The question “What is a painting” is interesting to me. When we think of a “painting” we often have a specific idea in our heads. Square or rectangle, flat, often on stretched canvas or linen. Depending on our preferences and favorite artists, we might think of the Mona Lisa, or of a Rothko.

Asking this question can have a playful aspect for both the artist as they create new work, but also the viewer as they are asked to view a work that falls outside of the usual.

The first line in my Artist Statement talks about how I begin a painting. It says “ A painting begins with the questioning of the boundaries of the painted surface”. How a painting begins for me is with a question of what a painting is, and what can it be. An example of a broader question I’m interested in is “When is it a painting and when is it a sculpture?” A more specific question regarding this is: What would a cube or box painting be? Would it still be a painting? How far could it delve into 3 dimensions before it’s something else, an object? A sculpture? For me, a question such as this might not only be the catalyst for a painting but even a series of paintings.

Both my box series of paintings, as well as my pillow series, started with this basic question.

These objects ask the viewer, what are you willing to accept as a painting?