(40) Structural curves

The Arch series

#structuralcurves – noble grandeur

ARCH | series I | Moroccan Nights
The ARCH series [Cat: 9999, ARCH | series I | Moroccan Nights, 30 x 40″ / 76 x 101 cm, Acrylic on canvass, 2006]
Arches are often associated with triumph, power and grandeur, commemorating a great event or in praise of a noble personage, supporting ideas of nationhood or commendable character traits.

However, arches are more commonly used to support structures, roofs, railways and roads – useful and utilitarian structures. The arches in my paintings incorporate the qualities of both aggrandisement and physical structural support, with a little something left to the imagination.

Decorative and Structural

#structuralcurves – noble grandeur 01

This doorway on Lincoln Cathedral’s north side is a feast of decorative arches and curves that build an illusion of great depth while drawing the eye ever upwards. Only the door openings are structural, while the two outer arches elegantly fill what would otherwise have been a blank wall.

Arches within arches [Cat: (40) STRUCTURAL CURVES 61]