William Conlon

In the summer of 1998 I moved into my new studio on Great Diamond Island. Great Diamond is a small island about two miles off the coast of Portland Maine. Since then I have been using this studio each year from early May through September. The paintings that are shown here are a sampling of the more then twenty-five works that I have painted in this series so far.

I started out wanting to find a new format, but also keep certain signature elements that have been a part of my work for many years. After two years of trying several different compositions, a new one finally evolved. At first sight it appears to be relatively simple: a large rectangle with a central square, and a thin vertical line running from top to bottom in the center of the rectangle. A series of stacked circular rings composed of small squares are positioned around the vertical line. Running in and around the rings are a series of free-formed lines. As one spends time with these new paintings something interesting begins to happen—the rings of small squares begin to appear to spin.

The hope is that all of these formal structural element, as well as color, combine to produce a field of visual energy, not unlike an electro-magnetic field. The painting space becomes a container of energy. The rings of small squares are like charged particles dancing weightlessly in orbit around the central linear core. The free-form lines act as a negative energy field, pushing and pulling at the boundaries of the rings. Two fields of energy one negative and one positive, combine to produce this dynamic visual experience.

Color's role is complicated due to the fact that the rings of small color squares must live in an illusionistic space. The hue and value of each small square has to be just right for each of the rings to fit into the field of the background color. At times the color that works seems counterintuitive.

The Great Diamond Series is an attempt to find a new abstract visual model for the beginning of this new century. The structures of our lives have changed; horizontal and vertical grids no longer dominate us. We use new interactive tools – computers, the Internet, email, cell phones and ipods. These devices have liberated us and have helped to create a world culture that is now interconnected as never before. The Great Diamond Series is a visual metaphor for this interconnection. It is not like Mondrian's utopian concept of the world, but it is an idea that is evolving. It is extremely unstable and ambiguous. It is like an electric current; it can be turned on or off or just give the viewer a shock.

William Conlon