ARTIST’S STATEMENT
Murry N. DePillars
My approach to painting has been influenced by the six
aesthetic priorities of early African American quilt makers, and their concept of “building” rather than sewing
a quilt. The six aesthetic priorities of these early quilt markers are: (1) vertical strip organization;
(2) bold or high keyed colors accented by lower keyed or earth tones; (3) repeated or varied large design elements,
motifs influenced by African and European symbols; (4) asymmetrical designs; (5) multiple or
rhythmic patterning; and (6) improvisation.
These aesthetic priorities and “building” quilts influenced me to adopt
a flat geometric approach to “building” paintings. In my paintings, repeated patterns
in a standardized repeated grid system from top to bottom and side to side form the foundational design. At
varying intervals, overlays of opaque and transparent flat motifs are painted or built upon these foundational designs.
This creates two or three layers of smaller geometric designs. These smaller muted and multi-colored
patterns alter the directional axis of the foundational design.
By introducing transparencies
of African, Native American, Haitian and/or coded symbols used among slavery era quilt makers, the value distance between
surrounding designs painted in higher hue colors is accentuated. Among Black quilt makers this is known
as “playing the fabric,” and by jazz musicians as “shading the count.” By contrast,
the foundational designs not treated with transparent overlays create what is known in music as “spacing” or “rests,”
which intensifies the higher keyed and muted colors. Art historian Robert Farris Thompson characterized
this form of design patterning and color usage as “attack coloration,” “technicolor staccato” and
“off-beat phasing of geometric accents.”
Animals, reptiles and birds are introduced
as metaphors supporting the painting’s narrative. Coded symbols found in some slavery era quilts
that assisted in planning escapes, identifying safe houses and providing directional signs to freedom, are introduced in some
paintings as transparencies. Among these symbols are the “Bear’s Paw,” Crossroads,”
“Flying Geese,” Drunkard’s Path,” and “North Star.” These coded transparencies,
also known as “ghost patterns” are also employed to support the painting’s narrative.
Murry N. DePillars, Ph.D.
January,
2007
