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Sandbanks
Sandbanks
Louis-Bernard St-Jean
2016
Walnut oil and linseed oil on canvas
48" x 72" x 2.5" (122 x 183 x 6.5 cm)
This artwork was produced following a short summer vacation at the Sandbanks provincial park beach in Ontario. An abstracted impressionistic view of an island surrounded by beaches as seen from above, with emerging sand banks bathing in shallow waters.
Its alternating sequence of white and coloured slats somehow also reminds of late 19th century zoetrope illustrations, giving the illusion of old animation reels plastered on the canvas, with each vertical slat representing a slightly different illustration in sequence.
Style & Technique
The piece's unique texture is made with a palette knife, by tearing up thick layers of oil paint in a vertical pattern similar to series of small vertical slats to create a lenticular screen effect which focuses all reflected light to the front of the artwork and towards the viewer; this increases the painting's brightness and glow while giving it an inviting tactile quality that appeals to all senses.
This lenticular effect also makes the artwork change its aspect when viewed from different points and angles, as it presents a richer and more colourful version of itself when viewed from the left side with its overall appearance gradually turning into a lighter white-dominated composition as one moves further to the right.