FACE VALUE

What does the title of the series mean?

The title behind this series is that not everything is what it seems. There is always good to bad, light to dark, more to less. The things that we take at face value typically lack the critical questions to understanding something more. The concept will encourage you to interact with the paintings even if you think you have all of the information.

What’s the deal with the colors?

This series experiments with the inverted color spectrum or inverted qualia. This idea originated when I was studying abroad in Italy. I was working in the dark room one day, developing film and hanging negatives to dry when my professor popped in. He showed me a quick shortcut on my phone to view the negatives as their positives. Ever since then, I’ve used this shortcut to save some time on exposing film negatives. It wasn’t until recently that I would just randomly change my phone to that shortcut to view photos and play with color schemes. The colors that are painted on the canvas are considered to be the invert of the normal color spectrum. For additional dimension, the viewer can see the natural colors through the shortcut on their phone when holding it over the canvas.

For a light- more scientific explanation:

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - Inverted Qualia

Why fish?

Fish, in general, have bright, metallic sheen on their scales. This is due to a sophisticated system of crystals that enhance light reflection. This has always been a source of endless fascination for exploring color interaction and theory. They are the perfect subject to experiment with odd, unnatural colors. Also, I really enjoy painting fish.