M A C A R E N A R I O S E C O

Portfolio: http://insight.lancaster.ac.uk/?author=35CV: https://goo.gl/nGWJrHE-mail: macarioseco@gmail.com - m.riosecocastillo@lancaster.ac.ukPhone: +44 785 192 3336

ABSTRACTING: A Phenomenological Process of Abstraction in Painting

ThroughmyworkIaimtoredefinetheconceptofAbstractioninpainting.Thisnewdefinitionisinantithesistoastaticconceptionof“TheAbstract”asarepresentationalcategory.IproposethatAbstractioninpaintingisanen-active phenomenon in which a painter dynamically engages with pictorial materials through a performative process, almostintheformofadialogue.Idefinethisprocessas“Abstracting”,amethodthatdeparturesfromrepresentationtoengagewithpaintingasanaction.Abstractingthenisasubjectifieddynamicphenomenonthatappearsintheworldembodiedthroughthemarks of paint that are left on the pictorial plane.

Inmycase thisprocess initiatesby takingspecificelementsas references.Forinstance,Iusecombinationsofmodelssuchasfractalgeometry,numericaloperations,colourrelations,lightandwaterwaves,andevenabstractconceptsfromdiversedisci-plines.FromtheseIthenelaborateabstractcompositionswhichembodydifferentlevelsofabstraction.AtearlystagesofmycreativeresearchIengagedmainlywithaformalistapproachasIdepictedspecificgeometricshapes.ThenIgraduallystartedtodissolvethese shapes and further engage with a more performative practice that is closely tied to the pictorial gesture. I structure my paintings now through the division of the pictorial planeinafinegrid.ThereIcomposefractalrelationsbetweenverysubtledegradationsofcoloursbyperformingasinglepictorialgesture.Ioftenusegoldenleafasamaterial,which,throughlightreflection,affectsdramaticallytheperceptionofcolourrelations. My research endeavour is centred on an aesthetic, historical and theoretical anal-ysis of geometry as a cross-cultural element. Geometry has existed in art throughout verydiverseanddistanterasofhumanhistory. Ithasbeenwidelyusedasasourcefordefiningrelationshipsbetweenthedomainsofphilosophy,science,artandreligion.Fromamore contemporaryangle, geometry crucially intersectswithsystemic frame-workssuchasComplexityTheory.“Complexity”(whichstandsfortheinterweavingofunits) is one of the most meaningful conceptual aspects of my research. Complexity The-orystudiesphenomenathatemergefromthecombinationofinteractingunitsthroughtimeandhence,understandsphenomenaasbeinginaconstantstateoftransformation.

Concepts such as “fractal patterns”, “complex collective formations” and “emergentproperties”,arenotionthatinherentlycharacterisethisparadigm,whichIuseasdirectreferences for my work.

Myartisticstance isalsoprofoundlyaffectedbyDeleuzeandGuattari’sphilo-sophicalframework,inparticulartheirontologicalconceptionofbecoming.Whilemycreative practice originates as a performance and is expressed visually,Deleuze andGuattari’sontologyhasbeenfundamentaltodescribemyartisticendeavour.Atthesametime, the visual and material structure of my paintings interweaves and physically delin-eatessomekeyconceptsoftheirphilosophicalenquiry.Hence,theintegrationbetweenideasandobjectsthatisactivatedbetweenDeleuzeandGuattari’sphilosophyandmypaintingsisaninterestingexampleofaninterdisciplinarypractice-basedresearchap-proach to painting.

My aim is to visualise movement, difference and change through a medium that traditionallyhasbeenmostlycharacterisedbyastaticapproachtotherepresentationofreality.Iwanttochallengethelimitsofthe“staticiness”ofpaintinginordertoalignittoadynamicunderstandingoftheworldbasedontransformation.Additionally,myinterest in painting mainly resides in its performative dimension. Therefore, I conceive paintingsasobjectswhichthemselvesmaydocumentandprovideevidenceofthespe-cificactionsthathavebeencarriedoutthroughouttheirexecution.Inadditiontothat,Ihavefoundinthisconcretepracticeameanofmeditation,embodimentandvisualisationofanideologicalstand,whichIcouldnotbeconveyedinanyotherform.

Fromanaudience’sperspective,myworkaimstocreatespaceswherepeopleareinduced to engage in contemplative processes of images, which do not seem to have anyconcretereferencetothematerialworld.Dependingonfactorssuchasthetimeofobservation,thepositioningoftheviewerorthelightningconditions,theobservercanalwaysencounternewperceptionsandrelationsbetweencolours,shapesormaterials.Consequently, the experience of perception of my paintings would appear complex and in transformation. In other words, despite the direct perception of the same painting, in every second that passes, this experience would constantly appear as a different one.

Macarena by Felipe Baeza Fuentes - Photorealistic 3D sculpture -Digital - 2014

IbegunmyresearchaboutGeometryfocussingonitsusealonghistoryto visually connect religion together with science and art.

“The implicit goal of this education (Geometry, Arithmetic, AstronomyandHarmonyandMusic)wastoenablethemindtobecomeachannelthroughwhichthe´earth´(thelevelofmanifestedform)couldreceivetheabstract,cos-mic life of the heavens. The practice of geometry was an approach to the way in whichtheuniverseisorderedandsustained.”

Lawlor, Robert. (1982) Sacred Geometry: Philosophy and Practice. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd: 6.

“Thewholeofphilosophyissketchedoutinthattremendousbookwhichalwaysliesopenbeforeoureyes.Ispeakoftheuniverse.Butinordertounder-standit,onemustfirststudyitslanguageandletters.Itiswritteninthelanguageof mathematics and its letters are triangles, circumferences and other geometricfigures,withoutaknowledgeofwhichitisimpossibletounderstandasingleword”.-LeonardoDaVinci.

“InPlato’sTimaeus, the spherehadbeen identify as themostperfectformandhencetheonechosenbythecreatorfortheuniverse”.

Short,C.(n.d.)The Role of Mathematical Structure, Natural Form, and Pattern in Art Theory of Wassily Kandinky: The Quest of Ordern and Unity: 64 & 68.

Golden Fractal - 40 x 40 inchs & Details - 2048 Styrofoam balls and Gilding (metal leaf) on Canvas - Oct 2012

Fractals: Contrast - 48 x 48 inch - Oil on canvas - Dec 2012

Like the yin – yang of Chinese philosophy, that literal-lymeans´shadowandlight´andwhichdescribeshowpolaropposites are interconnected and interdependent in nature.

The principal concept developed in these two paint-ings is contrast. In this case the diptych and the elements ofthepaintingswereusedasaconfigurationtorepresentcomplementary opposites.

Incunabula - Group Exhibition at Cambridge, UK - 29 April / 05 May 2013

Fractalgeometryas“aroughorfragment-edgeometricshapethatcanbesplitintoparts,eachofwhich is (at least approximately) a re-duced-sizecopyofthewhole”.Mandelbrot,Ben-oitB. (1983).The FractalGeometry ofNature.W.H.FreemanandCompany,NewYork.

InDevotionfractalgeometrywasusedasa reference for making images that refer to spir-itualitythroughsignsandsymbols.

“iconpaintingswasalso“suprematist”initsconcerntotheabsoluteratherthanthecir-cumstantial, with space and time beyond theimmediate,withthingsbeyondthevisible.Theiconisasign,notarepresentation:itsfigurativeelementsareconventionalsignificationsratherthatportraitsofanearthlybeing,anditsspaceis a cosmic, two-dimensional, unchanging gold, asignforaninfinitespiritualrealitythatcannotbepictured”.

Gooding,M.(2001).Abstract Art. Movements in Modern Art.London:TatePublishing:18.

Fractals: Devotion - 33 x 33cm - Egg Tem-pera and Gilding (metal leaf) on Wood & De-tails - Dec 2012

Fractals: Transformation: 1) Moon 2) Sun - 40 x 40cm - Egg Tempera and Gild-ing (Silver and Gold) on Wood & Detals - March 2013

In this diptych by bringing togetherfractions of the different geometric shapes and levels of magnification of the imagesthat conformed Fractals: Devotion, a new whole was composed.

Theseworkscouldbeinterpretedassecular paintings that refer to cosmology andreligion,throughsymbolsandthetech-nique used.

“InPlato’sphilosophy,truerealityresidesintheEternalFormsorIdeasthatmakeitpossibletounderstandordinaryphysicalobjects.Thus,ac-cording to Plato the way to gain knowledge is to directlyencounterthese“platonic”Forms”.

Casti, John L. Complexity and Aesthetics: Is Good Art “Complex” Art?: 21. In Casti and Karlqvist Eds. (2003) Art and Complexity. Amsterdam: Elsevier ScienceB.V.:21-29

Fractals: Platonic Solids: 1) Tetrahedron – 2) Octahedron – 3) Icosahedron - 23 x 23cm - Egg Tempera and Gilding (metal leaf) on Wood & Details - April 2013

relationship to the art works made, in terms of form, ma-terials, concept etc. Of course, artists, like anyone else, respondtothese“rawmaterials”inindividualways.’

Macarena Rioseco’s paintings appear to belong to thelatter category in the very particular relationships she drawsoutinboththearchitectureofthebuildinganditsreligious setting, the term icon referring not only to the spatial geometry of a spiritual environmentbutalso tohistorical devotional paintings. Here she has directly re-sponded to her environment in her choice of materials, in the use of gold leaf and egg-tempera, those raw materials traditionally used for the execution of religious painted iconsintheByzantineeraandinthegeometricshapesshe depicts. What these draw out are the larger philo-sophical questions inherent in the very terminology and paradoxical meaning of an icon, in that which is regarded ontheonehandasarepresentativesymbolofveneration,andontheotherhandasinfiniteandunrepresentable.In doing so these small ornamental geometrical paintings drawviewers tonotonly lookat thework itself,but tocontemplateitsexistence(andtheirown),inbothitsim-mediate surroundings, the church, and also within its wider universal environment.

Dr.VéroniqueChance

Ibid.

‘Site-specific’artreferstoanartist’sinterventioninaspe-cificlocation,inthecreationofanartworkthatisintegrat-ed with its surroundings and that explores its relationship to its environment, whether indoors or out.

Also,knownas‘environmentalart’,thetermalsoappliestoaninstallationorartworkthatismadespecificallyforaparticulargalleryorpublicspace,thatismeanttobecomepartofitslocale,andindoingsorestructurestheviewer’sconceptual and perceptual experience through that inter-vention.

However, as artist and curator Gillian McIver has pointed out,theterm‘site-specificart’hasalsoprovedcontrover-sial,inthattherehasbeensomecontentionastowhetherthis‘appliestoworkmadespecificallyforasite’(suchasacommissionedpublicartworkorsculpture)orto‘workmadeinresponsetoanencounterwithsite.’

Perhaps,thetermisapplicabletoboth?Whilstthismayseem a moot point, there is she argues, a profound differ-encebetweenthetwotypesofwork.Inhighlightingthisdifference she comes up with perhaps a more appropriate termforthelatter,inwhatshecalls‘site-responsive’art.

‘Siteresponseinart’,sheexplains,‘occurswhentheartistis engaged in an investigation of the site as part of the pro-cess in making the work. The investigation will take into ac-countgeography,locality,topography,community(local,historicalandglobal),history(local,privateandnational).Thesecanbeconsidered tobe “opensource”–open foranyone’suseandinterpretation.Thisprocesshasadirect

Site specificarthasbeena subject ofmuchcriticaldebate in relation tocontemporary art practice over recent years. Key texts include Erika Sud-erberg’s‘Space,Site,Intervention:SituatingInstallationArt’,MiwonKwon’s‘OnePlaceafterAnother:Site-SpecificArtandLocationalIdentity’andClareDocherty’s‘Situation’(DocumentsofContemporaryArt).McIver,Gillian‘Art/Site/Context’,fromtheauthorproducedcriticalwebsitewww.sitespecificart.org

A SITE SPECIFIC OR SITE RESPONSIVE APPROACH TO THE ROUND CHURCH?

FRACTALS: ICONS

SoloExhibitionattheRoundChurch,CambrdigeUK-30Sept/11Oct2013

“The icon isasign,notarepresentation: itsfigurativeelementsareconventional significations rather thatportraits of an earthlybeing,and its space is a cosmic, two dimensional, unchanging gold, a sign foraninfinitespiritualrealitythatcannotbepictured.”-MelGooding,(2001)AbstractArt.MovementsinModernArt-

FractalGeometrywas formalized in the late70sby themathemati-cianBenoitMandelbrotandcametoextendtheclassicalframeworkofEuclideangeometrythathadbeendominantforcenturiesinWesternphilosophicalandscientificthinking.AccordingtoMandelbrot,afrac-tal is“aroughor fragmentedgeometricshapethatcanbesplit intoparts,eachofwhichis(atleastapproximately)areduced-sizecopyofthewhole”.Presentingadynamicinterrelationshipbetweenthepartsand the whole, in a fractal shape, every unit is a whole and a part at the same time, and as a consequence of this iteration, fractals are theoreticallyeternal.Interestingly,whileFractalswereintroducedtothescientificcommunityonlyrecently,theirpresenceisapparentinnumerous artistic and religious expressions since ancient times.

AsaninterweavingbetweennotionsbelongingtoscienceandreligionthisprojectwasconstructedandguidedbyconceptsthatcanbefoundonLeonardoDaVinci’swritingsandPlato’sTimaeus.Plato’sideathat“theuniverseisintheformofasphere”allowsustoestablishadirectrelationshipwiththesite.Beingthesphereandthecirclecontinuousshapes,thatistosay,havingnobeginningorend,inthissense,theycansymbolizeunity,wholenessandinfinity.AlsoasdescribedbytheGreekphilosopher:“havingitsextremesineverydirectionequidistantfromthecentre,themostperfectandthemostlikeitselfofallfigures”,therefore,“abodyentireandperfect,andformedoutofperfectbodies.”

InthecaseofDaVinci’swritings,ideaswereexposedonhowtheuni-verse could act as a source of philosophical knowledge. However, he added,“inordertounderstandit,onemustfirststudy its languageand letters. It is written in the language of mathematics and its letters are triangles,circumferencesandothergeometricfigures,withoutaknowledgeofwhichitisimpossibletounderstandasingleword.”

InFractals:Icons,therotundaoftheRoundChurchappearsasaper-fect wholeness, container of eight Icon paintings depicting fragmented geometric shapes. Altogether, with these paintings the intention is to conveyideasliketheonepresentedbyFractalsthatstatesthatweareallwholesbut,atthesametime,wearealsopartsofabiggerone,just,atdifferentscalesofmagnification.

FRACTALS: ICONS

Solo Intervention with paintings at the St Paul’s Church, Lancaster UK - 14 April / 9 Dec 2015

Fractals: Platonic Solids: Un/Folded - MAMFAMA. MA Final Group Exhibition at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge UK - 26 Aug / 13 Sept 2013

Thisprojectwasshapedbytheactofunfoldingthreeof the Platonic Solids – Tetrahedron, Octahedron, Icosahe-dron – and a subsequent fragmentation of them into tri-angular modules. Each module was treated and planed in ordertobehaveasindependentunits,however,maintain-ing theproperty ofbeingable to compoundabiggerandmore complex whole when being rearranged all together. Theworksproducedherecanbeunderstoodashybridsbetweenobjectsandpaintingsorastagebetweentwoandthree dimensional representation, that is to say: a fractal dimension expressed as a volume unfolded in the plane. Besides,thisprojectisaninvitationfortheviewertoconstruct thedifferentPlatonicSolidsbyvirtually foldingthe nets and thus, the movement for construction is ex-pected to take place in their minds. Overall, this work could beinterpretedasanabstractapproachto3Dconstruction,sincetheobjectswillremainasideas,however,becomingpresentinanabstractwaythroughimagination. zIntermsofcomplexityandfragmentation,thisworkdepicted ideas such as how different arrangements of the same - i.e. triangles - , can lead to different outcomes - i.e. platonicsolids-.Conversely,howtheplatonicsolidscanbefragmentedinsameunits.Also,howjoiningunitscanmakeadimensionalchangefrom2Dto3Dandthus,aqualitativechangeofdimensioncanbeexperiencedwhentheunitsaregatheredtobuildamorecomplexwhole.Thethreenetscanact as a progression in complexity and, at the same time, as a progression in scales of fragmentation.

Fractals: Platonic Solids: Un/Folded: Tetrahedron - equilateral triangles of 30cm side - Egg Tempera and Gilding (metal leaf) on Wood - Aug 2013

Fractals: Platonic Solids: Un/Folded: Octahedron - equilateral triangles of 25cm side - Egg Tempera and Gilding (metal leaf) on Wood - Aug 2013

Fractals: Platonic Solids: Un/Folded: Icosahedron - equilateral triangles of 20cm side - Egg Tempera and Gilding (metal leaf) on Wood - Aug 2013

Fractals: Platonic Solids: Un/Folded: Cube - 19 X 19 X 19cm - Egg Tempera and Gilding (metal leaf) on Wood - Aug 2013

TEXT IN SITU

“Inthefirstplace [...]fireandearthandwaterandairarebodies.Andeverysortofbodypossessessolidity,andeverysolidmustnecessarilybecontainedinplanes.[...]Whereforewemustendeavourtocon-structthe four formsofbodieswhichexcel inbeau-ty[...]whenthegreaterbodiesarebrokenup,manysmallbodieswillspringupoutofthemandtaketheirownproperfigures;or,again,whenmanysmallbodiesaredissolvedintotheirtriangles,iftheybecomeone,theywillformonelargemassofanotherkind“. “Thefirstwillbethesimplestandsmallestcon-struction[...]fourequilateraltriangles,ifputtogether,make out of every three plane angles one solid angle [...] andoutof the combinationof these fouranglesarisesthefirstsolidform.[...]Thesecondspeciesofsolid is formed out of [...] eight equilateral trianglesand form one solid angle out of four plane angles, and outofsixsuchanglesthesecondbodyiscompleted.Andthethirdbodyismadeupof[...]twelvesolidan-gles, eachof them included infiveplane equilateraltriangles,havingaltogethertwentybases[...]theisos-celestriangleproducedthefourthelementaryfigure,which iscompoundedof foursuch triangles, joiningtheir right angles in a centre, and forming one equi-lateral quadrangle. Six of these united form eight solid angles,eachofwhichismadebythecombinationofthreeplanerightangles; thefigureof thebodythuscomposedisacube“.

“Toearth,then,letusassignthecubicalform;forearthisthemostimmoveableofthefourandthemostplasticofallbodies,andthatwhichhasthemoststablebasesmustofnecessitybeofsuchanature[...]and to water we assign that one of the remaining forms whichistheleastmoveable;andthemostmoveableofthemtofire;andtoairthatwhichisintermediate.Alsoweassignthesmallestbodytofire,andthegreatesttowater,andtheintermediateinsizetoair;and,again,theacutestbodytofire,andthenextinacutenesstoair, and the third to water. Of all these elements, that whichhas the fewestbasesmustnecessarilybe themostmoveable, for itmustbe theacutestandmostpenetratingineveryway,andalsothelightestasbe-ingcomposedofthesmallestnumberofsimilarparti-cles[...]thepyramidisthesolidwhichistheoriginalelementandseedoffire;andletusassigntheelementwhich was next in the order of generation to air, and thethirdtowater.Wemustimagineallthesetobesosmall that no single particle of any of the four kinds isseenbyusonaccountoftheirsmallness:butwhenmany of them are collected together their aggregates areseen“.

Plato(circa360BC.)Timaeus.TranslatedfromGreekbyB.Jowett

FRACTALS: PLATONIC SOLIDS: UN/FOLDED

TheCubeaddsthepresenceofavolumeinthedisplay which, together with the text in the wall, links the idea of construction to the unfolded nets.

FRACTALS: PLATONIC SOLIDS: UN/FOLDED - Exhibition at The Dukes, Lancaster UK. - 4 / 31 August 2014

PIXEL PAINTINGS: TONE - HUE - SATURATION

Study for Value - 20 X 20cm - Egg Tempera an Gilding (copper and metal leaf) on Wood - June 2013

Fractals: Value - 100 X 100cm - Acrylic on Canvas - August 2014FRACTALS: PIXELS - Exhibition for PhD Confirmation Panel. Bowland Anexes Building, Lancaster University UK - 20 / 25 Sept 2015

Fractals: Value - Details - Acrylic on Canvas - August 2014

Fractals: Tone/Hue & Saturation (diptych) - 100 X 100cm - Acrylic and Gilding (metal leaf on the borders of the canvas) on Canvas - February 2015

Fractals: Tone/Hue & Saturation (diptych) - Details - Acrylic and Gilding (metal leaf on the borders of the canvas) on Canvas - February 2015

Fractals: Woven Brushstrokes: Sunset - 128 X 128cm - Oil on Canvas - June 2015FRACTALS: PIXELS - Exhibition for PhD Confirmation Panel. Bowland Anexes Building, Lancaster University UK - 20 / 25 Sept 2015

Fractals: Woven Brushstrokes: Sunset - Details - Oil on Canvas - June 2015

Fractals: Tone/Hue & Saturation (triptych) - 30 X 30cm each - Acrylic on Canvas / Gilding (metal leaf) & Oil on Canvas / Acrylic on Canvas - April 2015

Fractals: Tone/Hue & Saturation (triptych) - Details - Acrylic on Canvas / Gilding (metal leaf) & Oil on Canvas / Acrylic on Canvas - April 2015

FRACTALS: PIXELS - Exhibition for PhD Confirmation Panel. Bowland Anexes Building, Lancaster University UK - 20 / 25 Sept 2015

Fractals: Tone/Hue & Saturation: Modular Paintings (triptych) - 30 X 30cm each - Acrylic & Gilding (metal leaf on the side) on Canvas - June 2014

Different arrangements of a same Modular Painting

Sketches and preparatory work - Acryic on Canvas - 2014

Sketches and preparatory work - Acryic on Paper - 50 X 80 cm - 30 X 30 cm - 30 X 30 cm - 30 X 30 cm - April 2015

INBETWEENNESS

Lancaster PhD Students Goup Exhibition at the Storey Gallery, Lancaster UK - 24 / 28 Nov 2015

Fractals: Atoms (diptych) 96 X 96 cm (each)Gilding (metal leaf) and Oil on Canvas / Oil on Canvas November 2015

Fractals: Atoms (diptych) - Details - Gilding (metal leaf) and Oil on Canvas / Oil on Canvas - November 2015

Sketches for: Fractals: Atoms: Waves & Details - 35 X 30 cm (each) - Gouache on Paper - November 2015

Sketches for: Fractals: Atoms: Waves & Details - 35 X 30 cm (each) - Gouache on Paper - November 2015

Fractals: Atoms: Waves & Detail - 35 X 30 cm - Gouache on Paper - November 2015

Fractals: Atoms: Waves (trip-tych)117 X 117 cm (each)Cotton threads, Gilding (metal leaf) and Oil on Canvas Work in progressMay 2016

Fractals: Atoms: Waves (triptych) - 117 X 117 cm (each) - Cotton threads, Gilding (metal leaf) and Oil on Canvas - May 2016

Fractals: Atoms: Waves (triptych) - details - Cotton threads, Gilding (metal leaf) and Oil on Canvas - Work in progress & finished - May 2016

Preparatory work for Fractals: Chromatic Continuum - 30 X 35 cm (each) and details - Gouache on Paper - September 2016

Tecnical specifications of the project:Title: Fractals: Chromatic Continuum

Pieces: 7 Paintings in the gallery space (see pianta) and one Cube.

Medium: Oil on Canvas. and gouash on gessoed wood.

Dimensions: 100X100cm. each paint-ing and 25X25 cm. the cube

Fractals: Chromatic Continuum - 100 X 100 cm (each) and details - oil on canvas - December 2016