James Sansing
     
                 
    Black Cement Paintings      

 

 

 

 

I paint with light and mass. Color is relegated to the under-painting, almost entirely covered by black. Texture and contrast are the crux of composition. In the absence of color I work with light using the property of absorption inherent in black. With cement as the canvas I can deepen the black and create a matte finish or polish the black to create an almost blinding reflection. The cement and its connotation of weight heighten the blackness yet the subtleties of finishes and texture give this weight and darkness an exquisiteness of warmth and light.

I transcend the black paintings’ evocation of despair and work towards beauty, bordering somewhere between these two emotions upon completion. They have an introspective sadness that observes both beauty and disgust simultaneously.		  
   
                 
             
 
           
           
             
       
 
         
©James L. Sansing