Seven Sins III : pastel drawings and oil paintings (2022)

In the following step I translated and condensed the previous charcoal drawings into seven pastel drawings, all on A2 format (also making use of ink, graphite, and charcoal). The number wasn't prefixed but by combining and discarding I ended up with seven scenes that I consequently entitled 'Seven Sins'. At the same time, I was reading the Bible, to grasp the impact of the Jewish and Christian tradition on our contemporaneity, especially regarding texts and images. Since as a kid and as a youngster, I went to catholic school and had to follow catechesis, several of these biblical motifs would appear within my artistic and analytical work (see also La Spirale). The transition of the pastel drawings to the corresponding oil paintings or 'painted posters' (thinned oil and spray paint on A2 paper, and other materials) led to several shifts and simplifications that are easily perceivable through comparison.

            Though I found it instructive to realize the shifts on the levels of content and style, I did not find the pastel drawings nor the paintings truly satisfying. One reason for this is that both series would at least need a more secure treatment of colors and textures. Another aspect is that the oil paintings end up being too 'heavy', due to size, technique, and amount of detail. Though interesting for me on the level of explorational research, I do not find them fit as finished paintings: the images are too loaded, too dense and the painterly aspects end up being too 'illustrative' in function of a pre-established program (which as a 'narrative' is also insufficiently worked through and hence needlessly opaque.) There is nonetheless a playful, even joyful quality to them which I still appreciate and that resonates with a mildly ironic sérieux.

Seven Sins IV:  ink drawings

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