Allusions to Interaction Series Online (Finally)
For being a techie guy, it sure took me long enough to get my Allusions to Interaction series online, but it is done now. I finished the series in April of 08 and it hung at 2nd Moon for all of May and June. Since then, I showed a couple pieces at the Java J’s Show in February, but otherwise, it has been sitting in my basement.
View the entire series here. Prints will be available shortly! For anyone interesting in what is behind the series, keep reading.
The Paintings
- Kindred Gathering – The interactions of siblings. Love, servitude, gratitude, respect, all stemming from common bloodlines.
- Dyadic Strangers – The interaction of people who choose to associate, but only at a superficial level (possibly even unbeknownst to those involved).
- Non-Formalized Encounter - The interaction of people who initially enter into the relationship without expectation of continuing relations – sincere or otherwise.
- Global Perspective – The interactions with ones self that lead to delusions of grandeur.
- Communication Channels – The interactions between people who can not communicate at certain fundamental levels.
- Erotomanical – The interactions of people of differing social statures (especially celebrities vs. non-celebrities) and the erosion of quality of interaction the party of higher stature can experience.
- Metacognative – The interaction with ones self, especially in the case of those who suffer from “restless mind syndrome”.
- Alone in a Crowd (Mob Mentality) – The interactions of large numbers strangers present for different reasons in the same place.
- Jingoistic – The negative interaction of people caused by the illusion of differences (here specifically, conflicting national allegiance).
The Imagery Explained
Prior to even envisioning the series, I decided I wanted to do a limited and bold color pallet. While working on the first painting in the series, I started playing with the sort of cartoony lines against the painterly textures. When looking at the red field with yellow stars, someone asked “Is that a communist thing”. I in no way shapre or form intended it to be and found that take on the visuals very interesting. I decided to make the series “about” what the viewer thought the meaning of the paintings were. Continuing with this idea, I started adding repeating images (stars, trees, grey figure) and odd imagery (rabbits, optical illusions, etc). This all lead to interesting responses to the question, “So what do you think this series is about?”
The Interactions “Thing” Explained
From the start, I knew I wanted to paint people, but I was trying to really shy away from any sort of meaning in the series. However, as I worked more with reference photos from the models, I noticed distinct personas deriving from the poses and facial expressions. Even while doing the initial planning of each painting, I knew the poses were striking to me, but didn’t specifically see them as “human interactions”. I think the “Allusions to Interactions” concept simply grew organically as I worked on the pieces more and more. After the majority of them were completed, I decided to try to extract a type of human interaction out of each, which is why, perhaps, the ones i picked are not neccessarily accuratly visualized. The idea of “human interactions” has been an interesting topic for me as I have been trying to better understand my own interactions with others especially in differnet circumstances where I need to wear different “hats”. Between actively dating, running a non-profit, working in a technical field, slowly loosing connection with friends from college, and the general compexities of the world the last two years, I had a lot of shit stewing, especially since it seems genuine “honest to goodness” relationships with others are fading. I’m not sure if that is just me as I get older or if it is our culture in general. *Ponder Ponder*
I am sure I will do a complement to this series – be it in theme or visually. If you dig this one, comment, and I’ll be sure to keep you posted on the next series as well.
Leave a Reply 
About Me
Blaine Garrett is a Minneapolis-based web designer, fine artists, and general jack of all trades. When he is not designing next-generation web applications or feverishly painting away, he dabbles in other creative endeavors as well as enjoying the fruits of the luscious Twin Cities.
