Mary Laucks abstract contemporary artist

Mary Laucks: Contemporary Abstract Painter

Non Rectilinear Gallery - Jabberwocky

Jabberwocky Jig Saw

In the series, "Jabberwocky Jig Saw", I am exploring what makes an optical illusion as well as what the effect of a non-rectangular frame has on the design. As the orientation changes, so does the prominence of different shapes and colours and which area dominates. When you look at the pieces for a while, you can see different colored areas first recede and then pop forward, so that the same surface sometimes appears to be a ridge and sometimes appears to be a valley. Many of the colored areas in these pieces are in discord with the adjacent areas. Discord is a somewhat technical colour theory term used to mean two colours whose hue is in an unexpected relationship, such as a blue that is lighter in hue than an adjacent red or green, or alternatively when blue has the same hue as red. We expect blue to be darker than red and when the relationship is reversed, or if they are equal in hue, there is a certain vibration along the border.

Jabberwocky Jig Saw was cut out of a single rectangular panel and so the eleven pieces do actually fit together in a rectangle, although each piece stands on its own and can be oriented in any direction.