
Hommage a Fragonard | 60″ x 120″ | Acrylic on canvas | 2021
Artist Statement
A picture of motion is created in the mind’s eye every split second as the eye seeks to comprehend what it sees, what catches its attention. As the pioneer filmmakers knew well, bodies in motion attract our attention, and a dancer’s motion has been my main attraction for 50 years both as dancer/choreographer and video artist. With works such a “Sitting Figure”, I extend that lifelong practice by casting a two-fold gaze onto a dancer improvising against a black void. First, I record the moving figure through my video camera’s lens as it instantaneously converts it into digital and easily transposable and accessible data, which in turn is cast via projector as a video onto the void of blank black canvas or paper. By capturing the kinetic traces of the moving figure’s presence with my pen or brush, I aspire to communicate the immediacy and life force of that presence.
Artwork/s at the following locations:
Collected Detroit
Detroit Artist Market
Artist Website + Social Media:
www.petersparling.com