Michael Raedecker
scene
1997, Acrylic and Thread on Linen
50 x 60cm |
In
scene, Michael Raedecker paints the ghost of a house, its
banal form conspicuous by its absence. Raedecker consciously
omits the building; the subject of his painting becomes the
mysterious space surrounding the known. Raedecker subverts
the banality of the scene through the organic turbulence of
embroidered detail. The surface of his painting is a microcosm
of quite disorder. Carefully crafted flowers and the precision
of taught threads constructing the architecture lend a surreal
element in their fuzzy texture; the mass of string composing
the tree spills haphazardly over the canvas, trailing lines
and fissures both above and beneath the paint. On close inspection,
Raedecker's paintings offer a quiet topography in their surfaces,
revealing an inner-life to scenes of common placidity. |