The source I chose for my Critical Analysis element of this module is an article by Barbara Gillam, (2017) titled, ‘Figure-Ground and Occlusion Depiction in Early Australian Aboriginal Bark Paintings’. In it, the author makes the case that: – Aboriginal art is sophisticated in its use of figure-ground and occlusion relations to depict depth, and is therefore, a good subject for study into the psychology of visual depth perception.
I was interested in this for a couple of reasons; – 1. when I visualise or have daydreams of images, they are in the form of distinct figures/shapes/objects over a ground, (often a vaguely granular matrix); 2. I want to be able to create more of a sense of space and depth in my work, so the potential use of occlusion to achieve this was intriguing.
The bulk of the paper looks in detail at the technical aspects of how we perceive figure-ground and occlusion relations from a psychological perspective; and the way visual elements can placed and rendered on a flat surface to give the sense that one partly occludes another giving the impression of it being below or behind.
This is all very interesting; the effects of lines intersecting at different angles, of convex and concave shapes, of contours and much more. I gathered some good ideas that I might start to use. However, it was something else that really grabbed my attention. A kind of two-part idea: part 1. – there are many more ways to perceive 3 dimensions than from a linear perspective, (from a point on the ground looking to a horizon for example) and we all share a common set of these perceptions, (we have the same visual apparatus), and part 2. – it is the cultural context and skill of the artist which determine just what aspects of visual experience are emphasized when making art.
There was also something else; that perception is an immediate psychological response, as distinct from a cognitive interpretation. So, there’s the immediate visual perception of the world, the cognitive interpretation of what is perceived, and then further processing through the filters of the values, experiences and philosophical beliefs of the individual. The way we process, prioritise and relate our visual experiences is culturally ingrained.
Gillam says Aboriginal art is both conceptual and perceptual. It depicts particular ways of thinking about the word, and particular ways of seeing the world. Moreover, it depicts many points in time and space, not just one. There’s an implied sense of Aboriginal art being rooted in a hunter gatherer culture imbedded in the land, whilst western art is looking out at the natural world from a settled/industrialized perspective.
This is a painting of mine from a few years ago, before I’d come across any Aboriginal art. Looking at it now, I can see there’s something going on here that’s drawing on some shared perceptions, even though my cultural perspective is quite different.
A lot of my work is based on visions experienced in a semi-conscious state, as well as themes and conceptual ideas I’m ruminating on. I’m beginning to realize that this blend of concepts and visions is something I need to keep hold of and nurture.
Gillam, Barbara J. (2017). ‘Figure-Ground and Occlusion Depiction in Early Australian Aboriginal Bark Paintings.’ Leonardo. [Online] 50 (3). pp 255-267. Available from: http://muse.jhu.edu/article/662401 [Accessed on 2/11/2019)