This is a small oil pastel artwork depicting the remains of a control tower. It is not a photographic depiction of a tower but rather a visual representation of what was once a control tower. This representation is not the result of imagination, as of the case with many abstractions, but it is directly inspired by a physiological reaction caused by long fixations of the eyes onto an object. The process of long fixations leads to retinal fatigue which as a result causes an afterimage. It is precisely this process that served as a conceptual and methodological base for this artwork, and others in the same body of work.
Whilst observing the afterimage, caused by long stares at a photo of a destroyed control tower, I used a graphics and photo editor to create a digital sketch of the image ‘burnt’ in my minds eye. After a long digital sketching process, I came up with a satisfying digital visual that I used as a progression/starting point for a traditional oil pastel on paper drawing.
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