In 1996, I saw a show of Andy Warhol's large Rorschach-style paintings at a gallery in New York. I had been unaware of that work, and was awed by it. In addition, I was reminded of having done some Rorschach-like work in the mid 70s that had played its part in my early investigations of symmetry, but that I had not pursued directly. I was inspired to return to that work, which had been done on paper in vibrant primary and secondary colors. I began my recent Rorschach work in multicolored images, progressing from small experiments on paper (like the ones I had done in the 70s) to moderate-sized pieces on paper and canvas, and eventually to large pieces on canvas. My color palette quickly became more subdued as size increased. As I refined my technical abilities, I gradually brought the symmetrical presentation of words back into the work.
Chaos & Order 26" x 60" | enamel on canvas | 1997
It was obvious that the random distribution of paint onto the canvas was chaotic, but it became clear that the folding and mutual imprinting process created a pattern and hence, a kind of order. This observation led to the development of the Chaos/Order ambigram and paintings. The process of dripping and throwing paint naturally brought Jackson Pollock to mind and inspired the symmetrical treatment of his name.
Jackson Pollock 14" x 22" | enamel on canvas | 1996
Having previously treated words and names in the conventional horizontal orientation, I naturally took the same approach to Andy Warhol's name. My first several attempts failed. Perhaps the vertical relationship between the O&S/O&R in Chaos/Order was something of a breakthrough, but it seems in retrospect as though I was unable to come up with a symmetrical treatment of ANDY WARHOL until I had worked my way through the development of increasingly larger canvases and simpler color treatments. The fact that his Rorschach prints are vertical was key in the realization that his name should be treated that way as well.
Andy Warhol 84" x 60" | enamel on canvas | 1998
The homage to Andy Warhol represented the last of the Rorschach paintings with words reversed out of random images. Since then, the letters themselves are symmetrically created without distracting surroundings. This purer form brings these images back closer to their ambigram ancestors.
IMAGINATION (BLACK) 26" x 22" | enamel on canvas | 1998
IMAGINATION (GREEN) 30" x 18" | enamel on paper | 1998
One Hundred 10" x 10" | enamel on canvas | 2004
Asymmetry 35" x 14" | enamel on paper | 2004
All text and graphics
© John Langdon
1996–2012 inclusive.
The ambigrams in Wordplay are protected by the copyright of the book as an entire work. Other ambigrams on this site are protected by the copyright of the site as an entire work. All rights reserved.