The scale of my murals/installations is adjustable. Hybrids I - Tettigia Spacelabeus isapproximately 14 feet in length and 12 feet high (3.65 x 4.26 meters). The size adjusts depending upon the location. The background is customized "wallpaper," painted a dark midnight blue with a pattern consisting of stylized, decoratively rendered bees, dragonflies, and houseflies in a slightly lighter tone than the background. On top of the wallpaper, attached to the wall, there are three round disk panels. Each panel has a section of the Spacelab painted in a highly refined, realistic manner. The Spacelab sections are very similar in shape to the insects in the wallpaper. The relationship of the wallpaper to the disks is primarily formal, due to their proximity to one another. There is also visual similarity between the insect shapes in the pattern and the sections of the space station.
Hybrids I—Argiope Sputnikeus, is the complement to Hybrids I - Tettigia Spacelabeus. It is, however, slightly smaller in scale 8 x 10 feet (2.5 x 3 meters). Painted directly on the wall, an infinite pattern of small decorative white spider silhouettes rest on a deep purple ground. The effect is similar to constellations in the evening sky. In the middle of the pattern, rests a round disk, 22 inches (55 centimeters) in diameter. Painted on the disk is a detailed rendering of the Sputnik satellite. The shape of the Sputnik satellite corresponds to pattern of spiders painted on the wall.
The contrast and the tension occur because of the discrepancy between the decorative pattern and the finely rendered isolated image. I think of this as visual poetry, much like homophones in verbal language. Two words may sound alike, yet they have completely different meanings. Also, I am intrigued by the idea that there might, coincidently, be a relationship between the wallpaper and the paintings hanging on it.
I see the relationship of the insect patterns to the isolated images as a metaphor for perception and judgment. From a distance, the viewer sees the installation and confuses the isolated images as the same as the pattern. But, upon closer inspection, the viewer differentiates and is able to perceive the two sets as completely distinct objects. Because the isolated image is larger and more developed, the viewer identifies the pattern and object as one. This concept of focusing on an object while perceiving the whole is derived from Gestalt psychology. I use this as a metaphor for the human need to stereotype and categorize information based on initial responses rather than perceptual investigations.
Paul Paiement, 2006