Fran Eber

Images of a Floating World

BFA Thesis,
Visual Arts Department,
Mason Gross
School of the Arts,
Rutgers University

30 April 2010
The world is
floating
My recent work titled Images of a floating
world, consist of a series of photographs
and paintings that explore the poetry of
nature and the forces of the natural world.
While the title ‘floating world’ evokes
Ukiyo-e; a word in Japanese that is full
of nuances and loosely translated imply
‘the paintings of life style.’ However, the
term ‘uki’ alludes to ‘sorrowful world’ and
is associated with death and rebirth from
which the Buddhists sought release. Here
the meaning of ‘world’ is not a place, but
rather a state of being; it is the pain and
suffering of everyday life. Like a leaf that
falls from the tree and floats gently on the
water, then swept away by the currents of
time. I hold on to that metaphor as I cre-
ate illusions, mirrors of the natural world,
bonding together technology and organic
qualities.
 “These days, I look at things, not through them,
And sit down low, as far away from the sky as I
can get.”
– Charles Wright

The photographic process

Within the framework of photography and us- between them has to do with the relationship
ing Photoshop as a conduit I have converted of technology to that of the hand, the brush
digital files to resemble watercolor paintings. stroke.
The oversized printing further enhances this
My work attempts to examine the surface
watercolor quality as does the heavy weight
tension between the seen and the unseen. A
textured paper and archival inks. In an at-
push and pull of what the eye will pay atten-
tempt to develop and expand on this theme I
tion to. This creates a distortion and a flatness
extracted small aspects of particular images
that resides on the surface of the work. Similar
and exaggerated their abstractive quality. Af-
to Ukiyo-e block prints, my prints are flat and
terwards I print these newly isolated sections
shallow, the image flows beyond the surface
onto canvases using oversized ink jet printers.
of the paper. The colors too may be similar to
In contrast to my photography, my new paint-
that of Ukiyo-e in their bright, vivid hues with
ings loosely render the photographic images.
heightened contrast. While Ukiyo-e use of land-
They create a dialogue between the photo-
scape is significant, it is not the subject. In my
graphic images and the painting. While these
work the subject references the landscape only
images are similar in size and shape, there
as point of departure.
appearance is striking different. The dialogue
 “Art too is just a way of living, and however one
lives, one can, without knowing, prepare for it;
in everything real one is closer to it...”
– Rilke

Influences and the other

Ingrid Calame, has used specific locations to
trace marks, stains and cracks on the ground
and copies them onto sheets of architectural
mylar, she builds up layer after layer with
colored pencils to create her own style. In an
interview Calame talked about her creative
process; “This working process is important -
going out into the world. My journey through
tracing different sites, working with and meet-
ing people and seeing their reactions to the
work - all this has changed my understanding
of representation and abstraction” (Calame).
My work is reminiscent of this process. While
the subject matter is derived from nature it
examines the abstraction found in the natural
are photographs that I took of reflections on
the water. These images show the movement
of leaves, twigs and pollen swept away on the
current of the water and air. My attention is
not on the visible floating subject, but, in-
stead, what interests me is to coax from the
photo a suggestion of what lies beneath the
surface. I began with photographs and then
manipulated them using Photoshop. After I
enlarged these images, I had them printed on
archival Epson watercolor paper. This tech-
nique stretched out the pixels and in a sense
distorted them visually. The professionally
printed images coupled with the textured
paper enhanced the watercolor effect.

world. Essentially, ‘Images of a Floating World’

 ...after all, we see only our own image in the uni-
verse, --our particular idiosyncrasies dictate the
mode of our perception.”
Exploration of the digital image
My recent paintings, with the same title, are
a response to these photographs. The paint-
ings are linear in nature and have a limited
color palette. They speak about the hand and
the brush, that humanity cannot be articu-
lated in technology. The fluidity of the drippy
lines mimics that of nature, when the natural
world seems to make reference to the human
one. Like the ways trees can look human and
the way clouds can take on animal forms. The
style that I employ is loose and unpretentious
and does not compete with the technology of
photography.
These two very diverse approaches establish a
– Okakura
conversation with each other. One speaks of
technology and the other of the natural world
– like the effects of liquid on dry surface, that
of lightness against gravity, the forces of na-
ture that respond to the physical world. They
speak of the duality of mediums the use of
technology, its accuracy and meticulousness
juxtaposed to that of the hand, its human-
ity and limitations. Is one more correct than
the other? It seems as though each genera-
tion struggles with similar issues, like a child
who draws objects in a naïve style and strives
for technical acuity, and then abandons them
once attained.
 “That art is of value only to the extent that it speaks
to us. It might be a universal language if we ourselves
were universal in our sympathies.”
– Okakura

Developing a visual language

Visible in my work is the confluence of media
and the influences of the outside world. Such
as the painter Brice Marden, in his painting
called Muses Drawing, he explores the concept
of linear painting, capturing the Zen-like nature
of line and form. Within the sequence of squig-
gly lines and labyrinth-like tangles, lithe twist-
ing and turning, he devised a technique that is
open to innumerable possibility. Marden pushes
the limits of visual language, not with words,
but with his own form of calligraphy and visual
aesthetics. Brice Marden, states that: “It’s
not a technique or an ideology; it’s a form
of pure expression. Each time a calligrapher
makes a mark, it will be distinctive because
he has a particular physicality. Great artists
exploit this; their thinking and their physicality
become one. Paintings are physical. So is the
act of creating them. This physicality should
be emphasized. If you’re not working with
preconceived forms and thinking, then you
can concentrate on expression. It is possible, I
think, to make art on this instinctive level, out
of deeply felt response. The longer I paint, the
more I think this is true” (Marden).
 “...our sense of art appreciation broadens, and we
become able to enjoy many hitherto unrecognized
expressions of beauty.
– Okakura

Calligraphy as medium
My work is a process that begins with a subject and is
then deconstructed as abstraction. My focus is not on the
tangible characteristic of the subject, but rather its meta-
physical and ethereal qualities inherent in all living matter.
These images, while abstracted by color and line, show
the natural process of life and the organic forces involved.
Though the process of experimentation of various disci-
plines, like photography, painting and technology, add to
that a combination of mixed mediums like paint, wax and
ink, then fuse them with natural elements like gravity, air
and fire. When accident, randomness and circumstance are
used, the final product is a combination of both man-made
and natural substance, and thus integrated in the ongoing
process of life and death.

Ingrid Calame is an artist who uses the randomness of

natural occurrences, like stains on the sidewalk to spark
a conversation between selectivity and chance. Her work
reveals the idiosyncrasies of the hand and the haphazard-
ness of subject matter. Her enigmatic tracings of random
stains found on the ground embraces a different type of
aesthetic, “this working process is important - going out
into the world. My journey through tracing different sites,
working with and meeting people and seeing their reac-
tions to the work - all this has changed my understanding
of representation and abstraction” (Calame).

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Deconstructing
the canvas
The physicality of the paint is made evident by
the drips evoked by gravity. This effect is more
profoundly stated in my most recent paintings,
where raw canvas is the backdrop for the exis-
tential puddle. The forces of nature have further
control over the physicality of canvas. The canvas
is treated with a matte medium to allow paint to
remain on the surface, however, if the medium is
too weak the paint permeates to the other side.
Because of this matte medium, the newly appled
paint responds in a divergent manner, the matte
medium on the canvas produces a flatter finish.
This is similar to offset printing, where gloss paper
will generate more luster to the surface of the text
that is printed on top of it.

Within the art of brush calligraphy it is said that no

two strokes of the brush are the same. One aspect
of my work has to do with this visual language and
the intimacy of the brush stroke. The titles of my
recent paintings are words used to describe callig-
raphy. Kallos is a form of visual art that represents
the concept of calligraphy. Kallos is a term derived
from the Greek word kallos, meaning “beauty” and
“writing”. Gyosho makes the distinction of being a
semi cursive script; in Japanese calligraphy there is
an order of things where everything is written in a
few strokes. Shodo is the Japanese word for Callig-
raphy. It signifies not just penmanship, but the Way
or the Path of writing. My work as a painter seeks a
similar path to that of calligraphers in its attempt in
creating visual poetry.
Intergration and evolution
On The Current, Digital Pho- Curled Leaf Looks like a On Top of and Beneath, Digi- On the Other Side, Acryic on Translucent Shadows, Digital Impermanence, Oil on can-
tography, October 2008 shell, Acrylic on canvas, 2010 tal Photography, 2009 canvas, 2009 (clsose up) Photography, 2009 vas, 2010

Points to a Direction, Digital Distracted by the Wind, Digi- Kollos, Acrylic on raw canvas, Organic Lifeforms, Digital Vibrating Reflection, Digital Image of You in the Water,
Photography, Fall 2009 tal Photography, 2010 2010 (detail) Photography, 2009 Photography on canvas, 2009 Digital Photography, 2009

Moss Growing on Wood, Moving Waters, Acrylic on Half In and Half Ontop, Digi- Moss Hovering on Water Patterns in the Water, Oil on Sadness, Digital Photogra-
Digital Photography, 2009 canvas, 2010 tal Photography, 2009 Digital Photography, 2009 canvas, 2010 phy, 2009
Wabi Sabi sentiments
The Circular Path, Digital
Photography printed on rice
paper. 2010
Other Worldly, Digital Photog-
raphy printed on rice paper.
2010
Verso, Digital Photography
printed on rice paper. 2010
Clouds vibrating, Digital
Photography printed on rice
paper. 2010
Twirling Around, Digital
Photography printed on rice
paper. 2010
Sideways, Digital Photog-
raphy printed on rice paper.
2010
Circular Path II, Digital Pho-
tography printed on rice
paper. 2010
Monument, Digital Photog-
raphy printed on rice paper.
2010
Bubbles at the End, Digital
Photography printed on rice
paper. 2010
Work cited
“Brice Marden (b. 1938) | Untitled with Green | Post-War &
Contemporary Art Auction | 20th Century, Paintings
Christie’s.” Christie’s - Fine Art Auctions | Post-War
Contemporary Impressionist Modern Paintings. Web.10
Nov. 2009. <http://www.christies.com>.
Calame, Ingrid. “Interview: Artist Ingrid Calame on how
she draws | Art and design | The Guardian.” Latest
news, comment and reviews from the Guardian |
guardian.co.uk. Web. 10 Nov. 2009.
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/sep/19/
ingrid-calame-on-drawing-tracing>.
Koren, Leonard. Wabi-sabi for artists, designers, poets &
philosophers. Berkeley, Calif: Stone Bridge, 1994.
Print. The Japanese aesthetic of “wabi-sabi is a beauty
of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete. It is a
beauty of things modest and humble. It is a beauty of
things unconventional.”
Okakura, Kakuzo. Book of Tea. New York: Dover,
Constable, 1964. Print. “
Rilke, Rainer Maria. Letters to a Young Poet (Modern
Library). New York: Modern Library, 2001. Print.
Wright, Charles. “Body and Soul II.” Poets.org - Poetry,
Poems, Bios & More. Academy of American Poets.
Web. 10 Nov. 2009.
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