The Meaning Behind the Form

Have you ever found yourself making a face out of the back of a car? Instead of seeing taillights, you see two eyes, a nose, and a mouth. This phenomenon is called Gestalt, a German theory that studies the brains psychological reaction to forms, and our brains need to create unity within chaos. Many artists have called upon Gestalt theories to make their artwork believable relying on the brain to create unity and shapes.

Henri Matisse is an artist that heavily relied on the viewer. Matisse constantly pushed the boundaries of reality and never followed the rules. His early painting played with scale and proportion, using color and other methods to trick the eye and brain. But it was in later years that Matisse’s work began heavily relying on the Gestalt theories of unity.

When Matisse was diagnosed with cancer in 1941 he found it hard to paint. Instead of letting this stop him, with the aid of his assistants he began creating cut-paper collages. Many of Matisse’s cutouts rely on Gestalt theory and the brains ability and need to create and see negative and positive space. Blue Nude with Hair in the Wind is a perfect example of how our brain automatically finds unity within chaos. The cutout blue form is an abstract simplification of a woman. We are able to see a woman by concentrating on the distinction between the colors. Our brains search for familiar shapes picking out the arch of a back, running legs, and hair blowing in the wind.

Peter Callesen also works with paper, but unlike Matisse Callesen uses paper to create three-dimensional artwork. What makes Callesens work so unique is his ability to create complex three-dimensional shapes using one sheet of A4 paper. Callesen often employs the relationship between figure and ground to make his artwork successful, often using the negative space to convey a shadow.




By not detaching the three-dimensional shapes from their original paper he creates a unique relationship between the positive and negative space, allowing both shapes to become the focal point of the piece, and contribute equally to the overall message Callesen is attempting to convey.

Images:
1. Blue Nude with Hair in the Wind, guouace on paper cut and pasted 108 x 80 cm., 1952
2. The Short Distance Between Time and Shadow, Acid free A4 115 gsm paper and glue, 2006

Sources: http://www.petercallesen.com/ and http://www.henri-matisse.net/