Material and Texture: The Art of Jan Swinburne

A digital artwork made in response to an audio fileTime 09

Jan Swinburne is a Canadian artist who produces work in both traditional and digital media, often taking an experimental approach to her process. The artist’s practice tends toward abstraction, and appreciation for material and texture


A digital artwork with a topographical, mountainous appearanceblack sky 06

 

I really enjoy the works in Jan’s recent series WAVEFORM LANDSCAPES. In these works, the artist transforms short audio tracks into mountainous landscapes, using various digital techniques. The resulting images are something like the chromatic mountain paintings of David Wightman, digital rendered and alien landscapes that seem to hint at the auditory origins of their forms. 


A screen capture of Jan Swinburne's art portfoliowww.janswinburne.com

 

Jan’s paintings also sometimes take on a topographical aesthetic -- the works in the series LUX CODA are heavy applications of acrylic paint and medium, piled onto a canvas in undulating waveforms. The real star of the show here, though, is light, and the many ways in which it can totally change the appearance of a textured surface.


A heavily textured painting photographed with a flashGently Caution The Artist, acrylic paint and medium on board (photographed with flash)

Written by: Dallas Jeffs
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