06 Mar 07 by Sunny Gibbons
Sunny Gibbons artworks

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Portal

This painting is 7 ft sq. I put the dimensions here because I am a dumb american and I don't know the conversion to metric. I like to work big because I think it is interesting to take something small and neglected and make it bigger than life and engulf you. This piece is a realistic rendering of a piece of juniper, the cropping,scale and intensification of color is what pulls it into the realm of abstraction. The mystery of not knowing exactly what you're looking at is definitely part of the premise of my work. To me this painting is a cross between a landscape, like a cave and a baroque gown with silk and ruffles and beads and froof. I like to reference old paintings through glazing techniques and color and use these techniques for a very contemporay effect using arcane subject matter, little objects from nature.

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07 Mar 07 14:46

These artworks are impressively executed and scaled. On sunnygibbons.com, you speak eloquently and clearly about each series. It would be interesting for the observer here to read a word or two on your experience, and motivations for these bold works. What influences your approach to painting, and perhaps other artists that interest you. Personally, I like the idea of that something seemingly recognizable but you can't quite put a name to it - that occurs in your paintings.

You might like to take a look at the work of Jazz Green (some of which is here on art process), though her approach naturally differs from yours, I think you may have a common interest in process.

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29 Jul 07 13:39

Hi Sunny,
One inch = 2.54 centimeters.
7" = 213.36 centimeters, so your painting is 213 x 213 centimeters. Hope that helps........

Snake
Snake
Snake

5 ft square. Also from the piece of juniper , this piece is more quiet and dark. I was thinking of underwater or just darkness. This particular series I like to think of as a journey, like a fairy tale, with evil and good and a monster lurking in the depths.

Crown
Crown
Crown

4 ft square. This piece is called crown because to me it evokes a head and reminds me of a book of art a had as a child called "fantastic art" with the likes of Hieronymous Bosch and his contemporaries. One guy painted heads made out of animals. Seriously creepy stuff that has always stayed with me. But I hope this painting not only evokes that sense of creepiness but also a sense of light and transcendance, hope and pride.

C20
C20
C20

3 1/2 x 5 ft. This is one of my latest works and it is meant to convey sort of a sense of fleshy fantasy. I think although the colors are soft, the aggressive organic elements make it a bit eerie. I really like that line between seductive and unsettling and my work always plays, albeit leaning in one direction more than the other at times, between the two. In short this is my mushy Valentines painting with a mushroomy alien sea creature lurking and threatening imminent destruction. And um no I am not on medication. I think we would have to be blind and deaf if we didn't realize how much mass culture influences our work and I'm a chick that likes both merchant ivory movies and scifi thrillers.