Using watered-down acrylic onto acetate

After doing a selotape transfer of an image in my sketchbook responding to Chila Burman, I found that I wanted to extend this idea of creating a translucent façade that a person has. As I am looking at the theme of escapism in regards to an individual withdrawing themselves from a Kafkaesque state, I wanted to incorporate Helen Frankenthaler's soak-stain technique that I had previously been using to accentuate the concept of upholding a façade. Looking at escapism allows the viewer to see how an individual does want to break free from a Kaftkaesque state. I chose to work onto acetate as this is transparent and would allow me to create a translucent piece of artwork to represent the fragility of a façade and how difficult it is to maintain one. This would allow me to juxtapose my two themes; Kafkaesque and escapism, perhaps by overlapping the different styles I have been working in to create a juxtaposition between concepts.

I began experimenting using this technique onto acetate at home, but when I added the watered-down acrylic, I thought that due to its thin consistency, it wouldn't soak into the acetate because it has a plastic finish. I completed two experiments like this and then moved onto applying acrylic paint in its usual thickness to the acetate. I manipulated the paint with a piece of corrugated cardboard which formed many marks on the acetate which were thin and close together, creating a rough texture which portrays how upholding a façade can be a difficulty at times. As I made these marks using long strokes, it represents the extensive length of a journey from a Kafkaesque state to a positive mindset. These marks are curved and sometimes go in different directions to show how an individual makes quick, rash decisions when they feel overwhelmed by outside pressure, for example, work deadlines. As I have used acrylic in its normal consistency, the paint hasn't been allowed to mix, even when I was overlapping the colours, this is because the paint itself would dry before being able to soak into the acetate itself before merging with other colours on the sheet. This has given the compositions a disjointed feel and so reflects indecisive thoughts that are dealt with in a Kafkaesque state. Although the blue and the purple are harmonious colours, they don't give a fluid vibe to the composition and so they emphasise this rocky journey further.

However, my aim was to create a largely juxtaposing composition to my textural responses to Mark Tobey and Chila Burman and I didn't think that I had accomplished this because I was still creating a rough texture but instead with bright colours. After going back to my first two experiments (watered-down acrylic paint), they had in fact dried but just took significantly longer to than the ones where I used acrylic paint at its usual thickness. I then completed some more experiments using watered-down acrylic onto acetate and allowed them to dry overnight. Doing this allowed a more fluid vibe to be emitted from the composition. They also appear to be smoky due to their translucent nature which reminding me of the term 'smoke and mirrors', which is often used to define when someone is obscuring the truth, and in essence this is what a Kafkaesque individual does to hide what is really going on. However, as I am thinning the paint, the pigment in the paint also thins and so I have lost the stark, vivid colour that I had in the previous experiments. I am going to need to experiment with paint to water ratios so that I can still get a strong enough colour to represent a content feeling that an individual is trying to emit, whilst still being able to see through it to capture the concept of a façade.