Matthew Hawtin

Category: Torqued Series

  • Torqued Series 2012

    Torqued Series 2012

    The idea for the Torqued Panel grew out of the Torqued Painting series of 2009 when I was exploring the possibility of removing, or in the case of the 2009 work, of ‘hiding’ the structure of the paintings to focus more intently on only surface. The main concept was to completely remove the physical structure of the work but maintain a painted torqued plane that floated off the wall.

    This series can be understood in two phases. Phase I can be seen as the technical stage in the development of this new work, working with a new material (fiberglass) and a time of learning, frustration but then clarity. Phase II marks the ‘eureka’ moment as the new direction became clear with the decision to rotate the hanging position of each panel and individually trimming down the panels into various proportional shapes.

    In the early stages of the series I was interested in trying to achieve something ‘other-worldly’ and in a sense, futuristic, and as the work developed it has carried forward these notions yet investigates this through ideas concerning myth. I also know that whatever I think the work is about, it will also take on a life of its own as I continue to develop the series and the work progresses. I have felt this already as the works have become individualized, taking on colourful personalities of their own. Undoubtedly, I know that it is also my own life that is layered upon the surface, through the slow repetitive process of painting and sanding, over and over to achieve the ‘right’ surface. The Torqued Panels, like the Torqued Paintings, can be viewed as formal objects that explore the basics principles of art; line, shape, colour and form, yet they also exist in that space where thoughts and feelings can live; as simple objects of meditation that reflect our daily emotions.

  • Torqued Panels Phase II

    Torqued Panels Phase II – 2011

    Phase II marks the eureka moment with the panels, with the decision to rotate the position of the panels, and then, the evening before the panels went to O&O for surface preparation I decided to cut down each panel into individual but proportional shapes. The surfaces were then prepared and primed and then returned to my studio for finishing. So far, there are 8 panels. Four of the panels are individual pieces yet form relationships with one another, and the other four panels are combined into one single piece, a quadtych.

    The work itself has carried forward the notion of the other-worldly and investigates this in terms of outer space and ideas concerning myth and the celestial. The torqued panels, like the torqued paintings, can be viewed as formal objects that explore the basics principles of art; line, shape, colour and form, yet they also exist in that space where thoughts and feelings can live, as simple objects of meditation that reflect our daily emotions. I know it is my own life that is layered upon the surface, during the slow process of painting and sanding, painting and sanding, over and over to achieve the ‘right’ surface. Undoubtedly, I also know that whatever I think the work is about, it will also take on a life of its own as I continue to work on the series and the ideas develop further. I have felt this already as the works have become individualized, taking on colourful personalities of their own. Like the unique planets that make up our solar system or our relationships with friends and family, the Torqued Panels are meant to exist across the spectrum of our daily experiences that we carry with us day after day, night after night, thru life.

  • Torqued Panels Phase I

    Torqued Panels Phase I – 2010

    The idea for a torqued panel grew out of the Torqued Painting series of 2009 when I was exploring the possibility of removing, or in the case of the 2009 work, of hiding the structure of the paintings to focus more intently on only surface. The main concept was to completely remove the physical frame of the work but maintain a torqued plane and leave behind only a painted surface that floated off the wall.

    I choose to work in fiberglass for this new series, firstly by taking a mould of an old torqued painting and then using the mould to cast the panels. The mould and subsequent panels were produced at Jim’s Automotive in Windsor, Canada. Initially we produced 4 small panels to test different painting applications and later we produced another 10 panels at the maximum size of 121 x 121 cm.

    Phase I can be seen as the technical stage in the development of this new work, a time of learning and frustration but then clarity that finally comes thru trial and error. Once cast, the panels went to O&O Automotive in Windsor for the surfaces to be prepared for painting. At this stage my ideas for the panels were centered on working with automotive paint in order to achieve a high-gloss and refined finish. I completed a series of small drawings exploring different designs and was interested in trying to achieve something ‘other-worldly’ and in a sense, futuristic, though the ideas were still being formulated as the work progressed. Working at O&O, I decided to do 2 of the designs to explore and confirm the new direction. The results can be seen in the pieces Edge and In & Out. These works were first hung square on the wall but were then turned into a diamond orientation. Despite looking better I did not feel confident with the final results thus these 2 works, plus a smaller panel, are now the only examples of this phase. It is not that the works aren’t aesthetically pleasing or aren’t successful works of art, they were simply moving the work into a direction I wasn’t interested in exploring.

    Thus I retraced my steps back to the panels themselves and back to the original torqued paintings. After much deliberation I decided to prepare the surfaces as if they would be coated with car paint but instead I would finish the surfaces by hand with acrylic paint and in my own studio. I felt this bought the work back to myself, which personalized the work once again and helped move things in a new direction and onto Phase II of the Torqued Panels.

  • Torqued Paintings 10-11

    Torqued Paintings 10-11

    In the fall of 2010 I returned to Windsor, Canada to continue work on the Torqued Panels. Back in a familiar studio I also began work on two new Torqued Paintings, to keep busy while the panels were being produced and as a way to re-evaluate and re-investigate the original paintings. I think working on these pieces enabled me to clarify the direction I eventually decided to take with the Torqued Panels, something that wasn’t exactly clear while I producing the new work.

    Also at this time I received a private commission for a Torqued Painting. The original piece, The notion of dread rather than anticipation, was actually produced in 1998 but had some surface damage, thus I was asked, and accepted to re-make the work exactly as before. The work was produced at the beginning of 2011 and the finished piece was packaged and shipped to Atherton, CA, where it now resides.

    New directions for the Torqued Paintings will continue to be developed later this year alongside the Torqued Panels.

  • Torqued Paintings 2009

    Torqued Paintings 2009

    Good ideas are hard to forget. I think that is what has returned me to the Torqued Paintings. My last developments were completed at the beginning of 2002 in Canada, I then moved to the UK and everything changed. Not my overall aesthetic but certainly the work I was constructing. I found myself reconsidering the work during summer 2008 when I decided to finish some canvases that I never completed. It brought me back to painting, to the canvas, and the surface that curves through space. Now 6 years on there are new avenues to explore, new ways of seeing and new materials to use. My concerns remain, the work being about surface and space, about design and colour, about objects and forms. There are new ideas to manifest and new ways to think. I find myself moving on a familiar path but with the experiences of the past pushing me forward. I look onward and onward I journey.

  • Torqued Paintings 00-02

    Standing before a history of art that chooses to interpret works as either objects or subjects these works converge at the intersection of different thoughts. Part painting, part sculpture, part design, they are a concentrated amalgamation of spatial concepts imbedded with the emotional residue of the ongoing perceptual experience.

    In a continual progress of developing these ‘Torqued Paintings’ I am currently exploring different size proportions of stretcher frames to expand the visual field into greater extremes of subtly and intensity.

  • Torqued Paintings 97-99

    My work involves the use of custom-built stretcher frames with varying depths at each corner. Depending on the measurements of each frame the surface of the canvas changes in different degrees of subtlety thus creating a new picture plane quite unlike the usual flatness of the painting surface.

    Influenced by architecture as much as by literature, films and other experiences, I am trying to translate those feelings that occur during certain moments into something visual. The colours I choose are reflective of the emotions used to ‘build’ each work and are applied systematically to achieve an overall uniformity so all that remains is a pure colour with no surface distractions.

    The titles entice the viewer further within each piece, and are there to dismiss any notions that the works are merely colourfields or non-objective. They are there to suggest ‘something’, and to create a certain atmosphere where the paintings can exist: between a point of knowing and not knowing, of being on the cusp of clarity and obscurity.

    Standing between a history of art that chooses to interpret works as either objects or subjects these paintings converge at the intersection of two thoughts. The works exist as pure formal objects yet are imbedded with the emotional residue of the perceptual experience.