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CALIFOlli~IA
STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE
DELINEATING ARTISTIC
DEVELOP~lliNT
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v·VITHIN A SERIAL STRUCTUP.E
An abstract submitted in partial satisfaction of the
requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in
Art
bv
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Dorothy Rounsavell Allmon
January, 1974
The abstract of
is(proyed:
Allmon
com;Jittee Chairman
California State University, Northridge
December 1 1973
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
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I wish to express my sincere appreciation to Rosemary
!Allen, Tina Roecker, Pamela Wilkes, Helen Rounsavell, Bruce,
jBeriton, and Dick Allmon for their help in assembling and
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~presenting
this body of work; to Ernest Velardi, Jr., and
Ilnonal Lumbert
. for-
their guidance and assistance over the
,past three years.
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CONTENTS
PAGE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
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STATEMENT OF PURPOSE •
1
S'!OLUTION
2
DESIGNING A
FO~~T
4
DEVELOPING THE FORMAT
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CONCLUSION
BIBLIOGRAPHY
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
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STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
The purpose of this abstract is to describe the farnat
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!for my last three years of work and to analyze the effects
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conscious and unconscious ordering on the progression
of visual
stateme~ts
produced during this period.
This
involvement was generated by a need to know, to understand,
and to cultivate the innermost creative means.
Work dis-
cussed in this abstract represents an a·ttempt to visually
delineate and record origins of my artistic evolution
within a carefully limited range of experience.
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EVOLUTION
By carefully analyzing my past paintings, I became
a<vvare of conscious and unconscious ordering operating
throughout the creative process.
The conscious, intellec-
tual ordering was apparent but complex 7 and involved the
development of color, line, shape, and light and dark on
the canvas.
Unconscious, intuitive ordering that can not
be directly monitored by the intellect existed in an overall relationship and progression between paintings . . I
realized the significance of the unconscious ordering
prevalent in my work after becoming familiar with Anton
Erhenzweig's concept of low-level scanning, which states
that the creative thinker is able to gain a comprehensive,
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undifferentiated perception of a total structure without
being able to focus on any single possibility.
Erhenzweig
refers to the creative search as a serial structure with
many nodal points.
From each of these points many
po~sible
pathways radiate in all directions leading to further
crossroads where a new net\.vork of "high-and-by ways" corr.es
into view.l
It seemed to follow that 'N'Orking in a serial
'(\.
manner would complement the natural process
:_~<?_lving
in
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lAnton Erhenz~veig, 'I'he Hidden Order of Art, p. 36
II.
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iffiY work and would increase·my potential for low-level
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!scanning by encouraging unconscious ordering.
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DESIGNING A FORMAT
In order to analyze my personal artistic evolution, I
needed a system which would slow down the scan without
producing inert uniformity.
I developed a serial structure
Nhich had a high degrea of specialization and narrow focus
in order to produce clearly readable transitions within my
work.
The transitions were
of development.
Procedure consisted of developing a pro-
totype painting and producing additional paintings which
conformed to the specifications of the original.
This system functions in the following manner.
The
prototype painting is consciously ordered, and subsequent
paintings are also consciously ordered in accordance with
specifications of the original.
The identity of the origi1
nal becomes subsumed within the whole and therefore loses
its uniqueness.2
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This allows the unconscious-ordering to
register on subsequent canvases as any significant deyiation from the original.
These deviations, then, are points
, of departure from ';vhich new series are developed.
Conse-
'quently, all future series are born out of the preceding
ones.
When viewed as a whole, the sets of series record
not only precise points of transition, but also overall
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!development and comprehensive unity.
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DEVELOPING THE FORMAT
The arrangement of natural forms has always
interested
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]me and has consequently influenced my work in a structural
!way devoid of symbolism or implied meaning. I developed
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·a visual statement within the limitations of the newlydevised serial structure in response to a close study of
dried leaves, twigs, stones, and gravel nes·ted in a sand
lot,"Sand" Series (Figures I-III).
with the mechanics of the system.
Some problems arose
Although I had moved
toward abstracting the pattern of natural forms, there was
still too much reference to reality--a reference which
occupied the conscious with recording variety and detail.
The "change" was consciously promoted by the endless
variety prevalent in the na·tural objects.
occurred so
rapi~. ly
The changes
and continuously that conscious and
unconscious ordering could not be clearly separated.
In "Vine 11 Series (Figures IV-VI) which followed, I
incorporated additional devices into the serial system to
slow ·the rate of change.
At this point my color, pattern,
and form departed from the actual visual image.
I avoided
dependency on natural subject matter and developed a
surface pattern composed of interwoven line and spaces of
·color.
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As a result of purer abstraction, the rate of
change was reduced considerably.
There was significant
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!transition from the use of heavy earth colors to light,
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!misty greens, pinks, and whites.
Heavy brushfuls of paint,
lwhich covered the first canvas, diminished to scattered
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jtraces on the final canvas.
Spaces between these linear
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!strokes were developed with spray paint instead of brush-
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jwork.
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These recorded deviations became the basis of a new
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lser~es.
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I used the sprayed application of paint, complemented
by light coloration, in developing the prototype pattern
for
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Leaf Series I"
(Figures VII-VIII).
Small, medium,
and large variations of leaf-like shapes were stenciled
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over flowing, swirling lines--remnants of the linear "Vine"j
pattern.
The use of the stenciled pattern \vas an attempt
to control variations due to imperfect motor control.
The
multiplicity of shapas was intended to create unity and
keep the eye moving among many focal points.
In the pro-
totype a white mist, laced with tints of color, was sprayed
over the surface pattern.
Without conscious manipulation
this veil of white progressively dominated the pattern
layer to the point where it blocked out detail in following paintings.
The gradual consumption of color by this
"white mist" was a shift of emphasis from lightness to
whiteness, the effect of unconscious ordering.
The "White Leaf" Series (Figures IX-XIII) emerged
from the point at which the emphasis on "lightness" had
transferred to whiteness.
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The v.rhi te dominated but was not
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integrated into the pattern.
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While formulating the proto-
type pattern, I was aware that the progressing dominance
of white had a significant effect on further reducing the
rate of change, an effect similar to that of cold weather
on the rate of growth in nature.
To avoid freezing the
growth to a standstill, I introduced tension by using
subtle tints and shades throughout a standardized pattern.
Size variations of small, medium, and large were used
within the pattern to keep the eye from resting on one
focal point.
The surface was framed with a stenciledwhite
border echoing repeated shape within the pattern.
A tran-
sition point emerging from this series was the progressive
recession of the white border.
In final paintings, the
stenciled edge dissolved almost entirely.
While white
maintained its dominance over warmer tones, it 'Vvas integrated into, rather than sprayed over, the pattern design.
During the development of the series I began to consider the mechanics of size and structure.
The "White
Leaf 11 Series was not complete at this point and thus did
not afford the opportunity to be assembled for study.
In
its place I reproduced one canvas from this series several
times and assembled the multiple images into a macrostructure (Figure XIV).
The multiple image construction main-
· tained its own aura as a composite unit devoid of an origi- 1
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nal or a successor, thus emphasizing overall structure.
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During the process of assembling the structure, I intuitively\
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expanded the overall si.ze to environmental proportions.
This unconscious ordering acted to increase the intimacy
of space at a distance and exaggerate the boundless continuation of the surface structure at close range.
By
arranging the modular units--one receding, the next protruding in an in-and-out fashion, a repeated rhythm was
established between the individual components.
The most recently completed series, "Etched Series"
(Figures XV-XVII) , was developed from a prototype based on
the transition points emerging from "White Leaf".
The
size of the individual units was greatly enlarged compared
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to those in other series, reflecting the earlier involve-
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ment with environmental dimensions.
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The play of small
scratches against.the large surface space created tension
\'Thile achieving unity through multiplicity.
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These white
scratches also acted to integrate the dominant whiteness
into the surface pattern.
The significant transition
emerging from unconscious ordering was the change of
materials.
Painted pigments were replaced by ink
Linear scratches replaced brush strokes.
tr~fers.
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Final touches
were added with crayon.
The deviation away from paint-oriented materials and
.methods has progressed with my present, on-going· work.
The use of applied coloration has given way to lighting
·techniques.
The canvas has been replaced by transparent
sheets and cast tablets.
Linear effects are etched or
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imbedded into the transparent material.
When viewed in sets, the series completed to date
reflect comprehensive progression from an abstracted image
to a patterned surface.
ma~ipulation
The point of purely conscious
of elements is avoided because of the recur-
rent emergence of intuitive unconscious ordering. Emphasis
placed on materials was minimal at the outset but increased
in importance through investigation of mechanics.
The
conscious ordering appeared most frequently in the prototype development stage, while evidences of unconscious
ordering emerged throughout the succeeding repeating canvases.
The conscious considerations wereactually expanded
upon and refined by the unconscious.
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CONCLUSION
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At the outset of this project, I was wary that the
!limits of my serial structure might restrict rather than
!nourish growth and development of perception and insight.
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intended the serial structure as a scanning device which
would provide a way of coming to know, to understand, and
to cultivate my innermost creative means.
I feel that the
system succeeded because my work developed and evolved,
shifted emphasis and changed face within the perimeters
of the serial structure.
I have come to feel a strong
personal sense of direction by establishing a rapport
between conscious and unconscious perceptions.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Coplans, John. Serial Imagery~ Pasadena Art Museum and
The New York Graphic Society, 1968.
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!Erhenzweig, Anton. The Hidden Order of Art; a study in
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the psychology of artistic imagination. Los Angeles
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and Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967. •
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
FIGURES
I •
II.
III.
IV.
v.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
X.
XI.
XII.
XIII.
XIV.
XV.
XVI.
XVII.
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"Sand" Series, 4-6 .
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"Sa!"1d" Series, 7-9 . . .
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"Vine" Series, 1 . . . .
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Vine" Series, 2
"Vine" Series, 3 . . . . . . . . . . . .
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"Leaf Series I
1-2 .
"Leaf Series I", 3-4 . . . . . . . .
"White Leaf" Series, 1-4 . . . . . . . .
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V.Jhi te Leaf" Series, 5-8 .
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"White Leaf" Series, 9-12
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"White Leaf" Series, 13-16 .
"White Leaf" Series, 17-20 . . .
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Prototype for Macrostructure
"Etched" Series, 1 . . . . . . . . . . .
"Etched Series, 2 . . . . . . . . . . .
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"Etched" Series, 3
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Sand 11 Series, 1-3
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