Exhibition 3

Daniel Scerri

Daniel Scerri uses old planks of wood to produce his work on. This way he incorporates the woods existing features such as locks and hinges into the work. The reason he uses wood as a canvas is his religious philosophy that Jesus was born and placed in a wooden manger and died on a wooden cross.

This scene describes a religious procession taking place in a typical Maltese environment.
It shows culture and passion to his beliefs, perhaps that is why his choice of colours were vibrant.
In this composition everything is moving in one direction, the right.
There is a straight/horizontal/diagonal line constructed of people in the procession (they also happen to contrast the rest of the painting in colour, which places the focus on them) which takes the viewer’s eyes to the right side of the painting.
Many colours are happening at the same time. This is a bright, colourful scene.

This composition is filled with complimentary colours which surround and create the subject.
The complimentary colour combinations found in this picture include red with green and blue with orange.
There are lots of geometrical shapes constructed with use of line which contrast with curved lines and forms.
There is no blend of colour, instead the colour is separated in each shape, which might relate to De Stijl in theory.

I am interested in the way the artist used broken wooden panels to create the illusion of curved shapes (in the figures) using paint.  In reality, the wooden panels are more or less straight however the artist used tones wisely. The shape of the paintings on the wooden panels are long and vertical, suggesting height. I am curious as to why they are missing arms. I’m not sure if there is a specific reason behind that or if it’s just done artistically without purpose.

The subject is constructed out of curved lines whilst the background out of vertical lines in colour and white horizontal lines. The brightness and texture of the wings make them steal the attention.

This composition has intense colour, although it includes a lot of black.
The use of vibrant colour made the church look lit up and contrasts with the rest of the painting.
There is a conflict in subject because the church is almost glowing in the distance, however the figures have the priority in size.