Sky 1975 Vija Celmins born 1938 Purchased 1999 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/work/P78334
Drypoint – Ocean Surface 1983 Vija Celmins born 1938 ARTIST ROOMS Acquired jointly with the National Galleries of Scotland through The d’Offay Donation with assistance from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Art Fund 2008 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/work/AR00467
In the short clip of film http://www.vimeo.com/22299024 Vija Clemins describes the process she uses to recreate the natural forms she sees into her art. She describes it as re-creating, not copying. The key to this is not mimic but to employ attention span to re-describe what is seen and put it onto another object. She describes a ‘thoroughness’ in approach.
I understand this to mean that hyper-attention needs to be applied to viewing the object in all its detail. Studying the placement and form of practically each molecule of the subject to be re-created. Also, understanding that you are not recreating a moving, animate thing – but, creating a representation of that into the medium you are using.
For cloud studies this would mean looking intensely into and onto the subject, to try and understand its shape, form and volume as fully as you can with a view to recreating it on to a 2D surface.
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