Gordon Carter: Dissonance Paintings

"Dissonance Painting 1", oil on canvas, 80/43cm, 2015

Traditionally embedded in the idea of portraiture in painting is the aspiration to step beyond the mere reproduction of physical likeness and to give visual expression to the hidden characteristics of personality which animate the physical form. The desire to represent these ephemeral traits points to an innate understanding by artists that knowledge of the interior life of a living being is absolutely essential if an accurate likeness is to be made. The inner territory of the psyche is so broad and complex as to have solicited the creation of its own science dedicated to its study. Among the various schools of psychology, the Jungian school’s delineation of the “collective unconscious” provides one the most compelling theories covering the totality of the development of the individual personality and its integration into the broader context of society. Within Jungian psychology arises the concept of dissonance, an idea which is also present in the theory of quantum mechanics and music. “Dissonance paintings” is presented as a visual metaphor for these theories and as an attempt to more forcefully explore the dynamic possibilities offered through painting portraiture by exploring the coexisting contradictions of the human psyche.

"Dissonance Painting 5", oil on canvas, 118/80cm, 2015

A painting is only paint placed on a supporting structure; a portrait painting is the result of this technique with the added ambition of depicting the likeness and/or the personality of the subject. Throughout the history of art, artists have studied and developed techniques in painting and in portraying human anatomy to reproduce an accurate likeness of their subject. However, the greatest portrait painters have gone beyond the “truthful” representation of the sitter’s physical features and have often added intangible touches from the psychological depths of their sitters’ personalities, and in so doing have created far more “accurate” representations that seem to truly capture the sitter and place them eternally within the portrait’s frame. In more recent times as the world, and artists in particular, have come to recognize more generally the importance and relevance of psychology, greater emphasis has been placed on representing this inner world when creating a portrait. The emphasis has become so great that many times the physical representation is all but completely incoherent as the desire of the artist is to show “how the subject really is” rather than “how the subject looks like”.

"Dissonance Painting 12", oil on canvas, 50/46cm, 2015

Jungian psychology offers a valuable vision of the development of the individual personality as well as its integration within and inter-relation to the larger world. The individual personality is described as being within a continual process of development which begins at birth and continues until death through a series of clearly defined stages. Jung gives this process the name “individualization”. Jung technically describes this process as the individual’s struggle to integrate elements of the “collective unconscious” into his own personality in his own very particular way; the result of which is the formation of a personality which is unique to itself but which then also integrates itself back into its own particular place within the larger context of society. The theory describes this process as being one of periodic crisis within the psyche as contradictory and paradoxical aspects of the developing personality and the collective unconscious come into contact; each conflict is resolved when the individual learns to assimilate and reconcile the contradictions into his personality. The nature of such a conflict can be defined by the word “dissonance”.

"Dissonance Painting 11", oil on canvas, 50/46cm, 2015

The concept of dissonance arises in various fields of human activity, such as quantum mechanics, music and psychology. In quantum mechanics dissonance is referred to in the theory of “complementarity”, when within a system there are two contradictory elements which in principle exclude each other when taken individually , and yet must be taken together to describe the entire system as a whole. In general psychology, the condition of a patient holding one or more contradictory beliefs or ideas in their mind at the same time is referred to as cognitive dissonance. In music, dissonance is used in reference to “unstable” chords which sound disharmonious, though energetic, suggesting the need for “resolution”. By extension, it is possible to suggest a corresponding visual parallel: visual dissonance, when two contradictory or paradoxical images are combined in equal measurement to produce a compound image.

"Dissonance Painting 9", oil on canvas, 50/46cm, 2015

“Dissonance paintings” is an attempt to represent the concepts of psychological and visual dissonance in one unified form in a series of 10 portraits. If a typical portrait represents the subject with one image depicting the physical form of the sitter, the accuracy of which is supplemented by the addition of some intimation of the psychology which animates the subject; here the aim is to metaphorically present the dissonant mental states that make up one’s inner life and supplement this with some intimation of the physical characteristics which are animated by this inner life. Practically, each painting is a double image, each constituent image representing a particular emotional or mental state. Each constituent image contradicts or is in dissonance with its partner, together they unite equally into a new composite image which is intended as a kind of “portrait of the psyche”.

"Dissonance Painting 10", oil on canvas, 55/36cm, 2015

Through the history of art, man’s fixation with himself becomes obvious; through psychology it is possible to see in his obsession for self-representation, the greater need to understand himself and make sense of his own inner world. From such a need art has pushed constantly to find more profound and complete ways to represent the totality of what an individual is. Through psychology we have come to realize that the contradictions and paradoxes within us are essential to the development of who we are as individuals as well as for the eventual integration of the individual into the larger context of society. As such, the basis of “Dissonance paintings” is the desire to continue in this artistic tradition while illuminating the essential importance of the inner contradictions and paradoxes that truly describe who we are.