Paula's Page

“Quidditas RZ37” In scholastic philosophy, quiddity (latin quidditas) was another term for the essence of an object, literally its ‘whatness’ or ‘what it is’.The process of creating this work involves repeated layers of media over a period of time, using individually hand cut masks and varied paint application methods.

Each layer successively covers its predecessor. My desire for and indulgence of aesthetic control is void.Restriction and control (through masking) are constantly ininteraction with unpredictability. Synthesis, disambiguation and repetition meet the Dada philosophy of anti-art, the Surrealist concept of chance, automatism and montage.

The overriding thought that resonates throughout the process is one of ‘commitment to the unknown’.Thus, in the final unveiling, ‘it is what it is’. Quidditas.

January 2010