Conventions of pictorialism (iconic imagery, perceived space and the picture plane) deconstructed and reconstructed as alternative models of perception, embodied in paintings and drawings

This thesis is concerned with conventions of pictorialism, viz. the surface of an artwork or the plane of denotation (in my case paper, canvas or wood); and iconic imagery and the depiction of perceptual space that is connotated by marks, colours and forms upon that surface. Most importantly this thesis is concerned with the relationship between these elements and the deconstruction of them. That the reconstruction of the deconstructed language can create expressive iconic structures that perhaps contain conflicting information and elements, but are simultaneously single and self-contained perceptual models of seeing the world, and the things in it, in another way; is a major focus. The thesis is embodied in the paintings and drawings which are documented in the exegesis that follows.

Through the frame & beyond the gaze

In Fiction in the Age of Photography[i], Nancy Armstrong examines the impact of photography on the way in which the nineteenth century novelists represented society. In particular she asks 'But what do we make of the fact that the novel's turn to pictorialism coincided with the sudden ubiquity of photographic images in the culture at large? Why did pictures begin to speak louder than words?